Earlier this week, Emily Gould wrote a thought-provoking article in NY Times Magazine about blogging and over-sharing – and Beast Mom wrote a great follow up.

The question is how much personal information should you share on a blog? How much is too much? There is a fine line between having a warm, personal voice and oversharing.

There are all sorts of blogs out there. Some are are topic focused, on politics, technology, business, celebrity, even on blogging itself. Others are more personally focused, diarist blogs on home, family, lifestyle and personal observations. I would consider mine to be fairly eclectic – with some posts on travel, business, tech and writing and others on what’s happening in my family.

I have always been very conscious that anything I write on the Internet is completely public, and have refrained from blogging about work frustrations, family issues and sensitive subjects like religion and politics. I would never want anyone that I’m having a problem with to read about it online!

Beast Mom’s point is that in today’s environment of online oversharing, we may be hurting our childrens’ futures. Today those seeking political office have their past examined in minute detail; tomorrow that may apply to the average job as well. The more information there is online, the easier it is to dig into that background detail.

In my opinion, most parents who blog about their children do so respectfully and positively. I never complain about my kids’ problems online, but I’m quick to rave about their successes! I also ask their permission and give them an opportunity to review when I post about them. The oldest likes being written about online; the younger would prefer not to have that attention.

Kids, however, don’t blog about themselves and their peers quite so respectfully. When they hit young adulthood, college, and beyond, they set up MySpace and Facebook pages. Some use less-than-stellar judgement and fill those pages with raunchy screen names, racy pictures and trashy commentary.

I repeatedly caution my teens about their online presence – I want them to create an image they’d be proud of if an employer, pastor or future spouse were to find their web pages. I also caution them to not divulge their last name or detailed contact information, for safety and searchability reasons. I check their pages occasionally, more because I’m fascinated with their online voice.

So, does my blogging about my kids hurt them? I don’t think so – although they are probably embarrassed from time to time that their ancient, dumb mother is even online and can code rings around them.

Can their own online presence hurt themselves? Probably, but we work on encouraging them away from making that happen. Who knows, maybe 20 years in the future having Myspace indiscretions cached in the Wayback machine will be de rigueur – like inhaling seems to have become today.

A couple of weeks ago, a news article hit the press about a soldier’s cell phone dialing home during a firefight in Afghanistan. Apparently the soldier had taken his cell phone with him in the field, combat heated up, and somehow he managed to press his redial button in the heat of the action.

This made for a pretty scary call for the soldier’s parents, especially since the call cut off after another soldier shouted, “Incoming! RPG!” The parents eventually made contact with their son’s unit and found out all was ok.

This raises a lot of questions.

What are our soldiers doing with cell phones in the field? Isn’t this:

• a source of data on troop movements, based on triangulation of signal source
• a potential intelligence breach, as cell phone conversations could be intercepted and overheard by hostile forces
• a hazard in a covert operation, should the phone unexpectedly ring, or even if the screen illuminates and lights blink at night
• a distraction to the soldier – shoot, we’re not supposed to talk or text and drive in Washington, so surely our troops shouldn’t be operating a cell phone while they reload in Afghanistan.

I have read that cell phones are being used more often for official purposes in combat, as a backup to radio and other communication sources. That application just seems odd – especially the hazard and distraction factor for any troops who might be on the receiving end of such calls.

Earlier this week, a Kent teen was killed by an oncoming train on a railroad track. The evidence indicates that she did not hear the train because she was talking on her cell phone.

Any death is a sad occasion and the death of a child must be unbearable. Still, as judgmental as it may seem, there is a Darwinian survival-of-the-fittest element to this story.

I have a very nice smartphone (a new-to-me BlackBerry Curve 8300). While I am addicted to its ease of use, the ability to call, browse, email and manage my calendar any time, any place, I am not actually a heavy user.

It’s amazing to think that 15 years ago I did not have a cell phone; very few people did and they were almost suitcase-sized gadgets. It’s hard to recall a time when a car breakdown in the middle of nowhere left you truly stranded.

Nonetheless, I strongly believe that for such mobile devices, there is an appropriate time and place for their use. They have become so ubiquitous that users everywhere ignore rules of etiquette and common sense and become an irritant, or at worst, a danger to themselves and those around them.

Washington state has outlawed cell phone or text/email device use while driving. Some restaurants have declared cell-phone free zones. Movie theatres, doctors’ offices, classrooms, museums… all require cell phones to be silenced and not used in the facility. The sad thing is – why should we even need to ask for these concessions? Aren’t they basic courtesy and common sense?

So, don’t use your cell phone when you drive. Especially if you’re smoking or drinking coffee at the same time. (Corollary: don’t read the paper or a paperback while you are driving.) Don’t check your email at stoplights or type texts while you are walking down the street. Hang up and pay attention to the cashier at the grocery store. You on the ferry, the one that talks REALLY LOUD, I don’t want to overhear your conversation about why you broke up with your boyfriend.

It seems to me, that if we can’t get a grip on when it’s time to focus on the real world, and when it’s appropriate to conduct a cell phone conversation or texting/emailing session, we’re all in danger of being hit by an oncoming vehicle or an irritated bystander. It would be thinning the herd, so to speak.

I had a migraine yesterday, so writing anything much was beyond me. Today I’m swamped at work, so I just have an opinion question: is print media a dying enterprise, with content migrating to the more-dynamic web?

The smug family gets these magazines, which makes for a lot of recycling:

Bark Magazine
Budget Travel
Cooks’ Illustrated
Entertainment Weekly
Fantasy and SF
Popular Mechanics
Popular Science
Sports Illustrated

Do you subscribe to any print magazines? If so, which ones?

And do you subscribe to any online periodicals? I find the ability to search archives for past information to be valuable. Still, we have online memberships only at Consumer Reports and America’s Test Kitchen.

When: The first annual International Hijack Day^TM, organized by Nathan, begins later today. (It’s set to Greenwich Mean time – which would be 4pm Pacific time.)

Who: We’re a group of bloggers who think it’d be fun to add to the level of random chaos on the web. If you’d like to join us, please go sign up on Nathan’s blog! (not here)

What: On Hijack Day^TM, we will randomize our comments. Rather than responding to bloggers on their own thread, we’ll go comment about it somewhere else.

How: If I want to respond to Jim’s blog post on belly button lint, I’ll comment on Anne’s post covering the Blue Smurf caucus. And Michelle may respond to a comment thread on Janiece’s blog by posting a follow-on to Shawn’s ode to his favorite cleaning product.

In my opinion, just to add an additional layer of chaos, participants can also 1) flame and troll as desired, 2) write outrageous and untrue statements, and 2) add red herring comments that aren’t related to anyone’s blog, driving us all crazy with the search for context.

If one of the participants has not yet put up a Hijack Day post, hijack their most recent thread with your random comments.

Where: Although a late participant may jump in, the current participating blogs include:

Anne’s Public Storage Space
Janiece’s Hot Chicks Dig Smart Men
Jeri’s Smug Puppies
Michelle’s Random (but not really)
MWT’s The Blog of Siram
Nathan’s Polybloggimous
Jim’s Stonekettle Station
Tania’s Who am I to Say?
The Brain of Shawn
Tom Snavely’s Web Log

Why: Because we can!