[This is a re-post from another of my blogs. I think it's an important topic and I'll include some of the comments that were made on it. I haven't heard a lot of people talk about this at BlogHer, but the Startup Weekend in Boulder--70+ programmers, developers & marketers got together to launch a company over a weekend brought it into stark relief for me...]

This weekend there were times when more than 100 people at a time tuned in to watch the Live Feed. Thousands of unique IP addresses were logging into vosnap.com. It was the most public I’ve ever been in terms of the web. I’ve performed in front of hundreds and sometimes those concerts were recorded, but this was ON AIR.

This isn’t the first time that I’ve wondered about my level of transparency with people reading my blogs and watching my life as it unfolds. My blog is one thing. The sheer number of people writing, reading, watching and commenting on my life this weekend was a little different.

First of all, all mistakes and missteps were recorded and people could give instant feedback on things. In a way it was like Truman Show. Most of the time I barely noticed the camera. When I taught yoga I hardly noticed it was there, but other people remarked on it and looked a bit self-conscious moving their hips with the world watching. I can understand. Yoga is typically a semi-private endeavor. Should it be kept that way?

Then, Buddhist Geeks put up a group podcast. Some negative comments have rolled in on that, including:

After I heard on your recent podcast that a host had connections with S Girls and even considered submitting her self pics, I was dismayed. You all are way too young, folks.

Interesting comment. Interesting because this is an issue I’ve wrestled with publicly from day one at BGeeks. How to balance spirituality and sexuality. And I will continue to do so, even if we lose one listener or a thousand because of it. That’s the truth. Ain’t no shame in my game. I’m young, I meditate and from time to time, I’m horny. Big f’in deal.What’s curious about that post is that it’s gotten more traffic than any other post or podcast to date. People are curious about sexuality and afraid to open up about it. One thing that I saw in Japan and that still seems to me to be the reason it’s safe enough for a 12 year old girl to be out on the streets anywhere in the country at 2 am (sorry this is a run on) is that people are open about sexuality. There is less charge around it. And fewer hang-ups. Could it be that our predominantly Protestant upbringings have actually created *more* fear around our sexuality?

Okay, that’s not all that I wanted to talk about in this post. The real point of this post is to take a look at whether we should be as transparent online as we are in our “real lives.” Last night at the new technologies meetup on CU’s campus one group made the point that everything you put up online is searchable. So, if you don’t want us to know about it, he said, don’t make it public.

I equate transparency with truth-telling. That doesn’t mean my entire life is going to be opened up to the public. If I had a camera following me around for more than a weekend it might start to get old. And the truth is, I’m up to a lot of things you probably don’t want to know about.

As a Knowledge Worker*, I think it’s one of responsibilities to inform others about what’s happening with regards to new and emerging technologies. Even when you mark an entry “friends only” or think your email is for your eyes only, think again. Just this morning I opened up my gmail account and what appeared on the page was SOMEONE ELSE’S account. Everything. Now, it’s possible that someone borrowed my computer and forgot to close it, but, the point stands. You’re always vulnerable. Start setting boundaries now. Forget feature creep. Start thinking about privacy creep.

I didn’t mean for this to devolve into a bunch of warnings. Michael Moore will probably take care of that soon enough. Really, I just want to get a dialog started about how much is too much? Is there such a thing as too transparent? Or is it all pretty much up for grabs when you make your life public through blogging, twittering & online social networks (writing about preferences that you can later be target-marketed for?).

Twitter me with thoughts. ;)

*The Knowledge Worker:
-Works with ideas and manages teams
-Wants to be able to develop and improve processes and forms; encourage collaboration; create workspace environments
-Needs to create, consume, transform and analyze data
-Works in an unstructured, free-form way, maybe starting with a set of ideas which are collaborated on and built into a new document/report/form/business process.
-Examples of this type of worker include middle/senior managers, consultants, marketing execs.

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Wordfire.Net said, “I’m always grateful, and humbled, when I encounter the transparency of another. It’s a vulnerability that usually encourages me to be more publicly fearless (’cause muffled shouts from the sidelines don’t require a whole lotta courage, ya know?) And public fearlessness, IMHO, makes me and my many facets feel integrated. And free. What a drag it is to alter yourself according to every different context and situation. At work, with family, in business, with friends, in my spiritual communities, while shopping, whatever/whenever I want to be me… fully me. Ideal? Yes. Authentic? Absolutely.I see your transparency as a gift, Gwen. I hope you’ll keep on giving :-)

Spirituality and sexuality. Before I found a Middle Path that works for me, I suffered from extremism. After seven years of celibacy, I realized that my holiness and my lusciousness were not at odds. I introduced them to each other, and now they’re very happy friends.”