In '71 or '72, Nixon is reputed to have said, "We're all Keynesians now," in response to a reporter's query about the, ah, free-spending nature of his latest budget. Well, something about that odd little episode bubbled to the surface of my consciousness when I realized that so many people I "know" (in the blogosphere sense of the word) have both professional and personal sites. This was the solution I adopted when I started blogging, and although it seemed odd to at least one friend of mine at the time, I decided to maintain two separate sites that would be linked together. My rationale, as I've noted elsewhere, was that, "A lot of my friends are colleagues, and a lot of my colleagues are
friends, so I want the two sites to be linked, but I like the idea of
having separate online spaces for these different purposes. I've
thought about integrating them to save myself the hassle, but then I do
a post on cocktails, and I think, "That's hardly NSFW, but it's not exactly professional either." So here we are."
So it was gratifying today to run across Stowe Boyd's A Working Matter, which is now apparently a blog about karate, which then led me to Suw Charman's Chocolate and Vodka, which at least lately has been devoted to Bay Area travel notes. Stowe and Suw are two of the folks I've been reading regularly on a range of professional topics at Corante, and it was nice to get a glimpse of the people behind the ideas. On a related note, I've really enjoyed Beth Kanter's recent posts that intertwine her kids, her nonprofit technology consulting, and her enthusiastic blogging.
I think it's essential to let people know who you are as an individual and to speak in your own voice when you're working online. That means exposing yourself, speaking authentically, and being unafraid to share your silly passions. Apparently, we're all exhibitionists now (or soon will be.)