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Alison Skirtboston

Skirt! Boston editor

Skirt! is evidence that the universe is paying attention: I spent the last six years at mach speed, whether finishing college (Emerson) while writing full time for Boston Globe West (2001-2004) or editing the Boston Parents’ Paper during the day while holding down the steady gig writing for Globe ...

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File Under TMI -- too much info!

Alison, editor

I made the mistake of blurring FaceBook and MySpace in a conversation, calling it MyFace ... a Freudian slip of sorts that sent my kids into spasms of hysterical laughter. But how long will it be before we’re ALL communicating from those self-based platforms, and typing more than talking?

A recent feature in the NYTimes Sunday Magazine adds to my concern. The article documented a young woman’s rise and fall in the blogging world, and the astonishing amount of personal information she published for the world to see. (Read it here.) Is anyone else concerned that this is a trend, or do you have better things to do than read blogs (much less a multi-page dissection of her indiscretions)?

I’d like to think she’s an extreme case because she worked for Gawker.com, an online phenomenon which posts frequent snippets of info that make you feel like you’ve been around the boroughs (it’s NY based)  every day hour. What better vehicle for self-inflation when hundreds or thousands are reading and/or commenting on your every post? It’s not much of a stretch to imagine other continuously-connected youth posting every detail of their personal lives on less-traveled sites... and a similar implosion resulting.

Which takes me to Twitter, a service I couldn’t imagine using. It’s short text messages that you send/receive with multiple friends about your every move/thought/itch. Is it that infinitesimal details of my life aren’t fascinating enough to share with everyone I know, or that I don’t care what you ate for lunch? If this opinion makes me a cro-magnum woman, I’m hoping the Ice Age returns.

The whole situation reminds me of something I read about Margaret Thatcher (or another proper British matron) that suggested retaining a little privacy in one’s personal business – if your significant other doesn’t NEED to know everything (and mine is definitely only updated on a need to know basis), why then would you post the salacious details online? Could you imagine Margaret Thatcher whipping out her iPhone to twitter to her friends about a conversation with other heads of state?

Some skirt bloggers mask their identities (I like the Witness Protection names), others let it all hang out. Where do you draw the line?