Hate Speech and Privacy

(Picture from www.markmoore.terapad.com)

I have vacillated back and forth on having a private blog vs. a public blog. I love finding old friends through blogs. I love being able to meet new people through my blogs. I enjoy the social experience the blogging world offers. On the flip side, I have also worried. I have worried about who sees my blog. If I have to be worried over information I post or if I need to be worried for my kids safety because of the blog. I had decided that the risks did not seem likely, however; a recent experience on facebook has made me re-think my decision. I am a member of a number of groups on facebook dealing with the CHD (heart defect) community. This community is a group of people who live with CHD. Their support is immeasurable. Outside my own family members, these are the people I look to for advice, answers, support, and help in dealing with heart defects. Yesterday, a certain facebook user, who had become a member of many of these CHD groups, hacked into members accounts. He stole photos of children with CHD's. Some were photos in the hospital, some were photos of babies passed away because of CHD's....a number of photos were stolen. He then began posting terrible, ugly, hateful comments about these children on these sites. He was implying that these children are cursed by God and are punishments for sins. The act was hurtful to a number of people I know. People who are dealing with the death of a child, people who have beautiful CHD children, people who are expecting babies with known heart defects....anyone who read the comments and had a child with a CHD was affected. My facebook account, set to "only" friends on all photos and posts, having removed any ability for apps to work recently, and having removed any information as to my location, was safe.

The experience did open my eyes. People with weird agendas and strange views are out there. They can be hurtful and vengeful and ugly. They can also be scary...with strange thoughts in their heads and who knows what kind of ideas. So....I have decided to go private. I really want all my friends and families, both those who interact with comments and those who just read to still have access. I will send email invites to those in my address book, however; I am aware than some who follow my blog may not be in my address book. I really hope, even if you have been silently "stalking" in a friendly way, that you will send me your email address so I can add you to the invite list. Leave a comment if you wish to be included or email me at
njanwardell@msn.com
This post will be my last for a couple of weeks until the privatization is completed. Thanks to all for your support and friendship, I hope the "private" doesn't change that!
While this blog will be going private, my other blog, http://www.perfectbrokenhearts.wordpress.com will not be going private. Wordpress has protections in place and I will be finding someone to administrate it for me so such occurrences can not happen. So, you can still visit my CHD blog without an invite.