Cyber Fear or Not

[Candid Carrie]

I am not afraid of my identity being revealed.  I use my full real name and my full real city and state. 

I have blogging friends that are in constant fear of crazies but I figure that there is so much information about me out there that I am in bigger fear of identity theft with credit cards and social security numbers that "stalking" doesn't really scare me too much. 

Please, I know there are stalking incidents and you may be the victim or someone else you know maybe the victim and I am sorry that happened.  I know there is scary stuff about stalkers and on line preditors.  I realize that. 

So are you cautious or not?

[themomblogs]

No I'm not.... I really can't be "" since I am a business owner.  I do think that sometimes people can be a bit overfearful and I'm not sure where all that fear has come from.  I do think some of it has been created from online hype and stories they have heard.  But everyone needs to do what they feel the most comfortable with.   Not saying it isn't good to be cautious, but don't cause yourself unnecessary stress over safe issues. 

There are things that people do in their day to day routine that are MUCH more dangerous than their blogging.

[monkeysmama]

Yes, we're cautious.  My husband is in the military and it has become very important to us to be safe.  It's unfortunate, but I do know people (especially with myspace) who have come into contact with people who are up to "no good".  As for us personally, my husband is gone a lot when he's in the states and when he's deployed, obviously he's gone for a much longer time.  We've had instances with people we know who have had guys show up at their door after finding out their husbands are gone.  We actually had one wife have a "soldier" show up and tell her that her husband had been killed.

If it weren't for that, I probably wouldn't be concerned as much with it until my son was in school (my cousin's husband is a school principal and they actually had some guy show up to pick up one of the kids and he'd found out the info from myspace).

[Candid Carrie]

Alright, that is just creepy.  In circumstances like those I will agree it is best to be on the down low. 

[lorrij7]

I agree, that is creepy!  I don't worry much about it myself though.

[Daisy]

I'm cautious, more for my children's sakes than for my own. My daughter is in college and my son is a teen, so they're out on their own a lot. I don't want to take chances.

[Tara]

I am fairly cautious, but I have my Avon link on my blog now so really anyone could get my last name or phone number... but they could anyway with a few quick searches...

[zimkandace]

Not cautious at all.]

Real names, real state, real city.

I am not fearful of stalkers.  I know they exist but for some reason I think its unlikely they will target me, a "mommy" blogger.

Also, most of my blogging friends are NOT cautious either with one exception and she is military and it is required for their safety.  I accidently used her first name and she kindly reminded all of us that there were rules in place to protect her family and I get that.

In general though I think if a stalker happens it will happen either way.

[Candid Carrie]

Trust me, I watch enough Law & Order and C.S.I. to know about these things! 

(sarcasm) ... if they want you they will get you. 

[Happy Momma]

I am cautious, but I don't think I'm overly cautious. 

I use our real first names, but not our last name and I don't tell people where I live.  When I first started blogging I talked about where we lived and my last name was actually my domain name.  But when I started getting more and more readers I started to get a bit worried.  And my crazy little mind likes to come up some freaky scenarios.

So, while I know I'd probably be more likely to run into a weirdo stalker at the park, if I gave too much information out I would worry about it too much.

[Aimee]

I am cautious but I'm not.  I go back and forth on things

[zimkandace]

Trust me, I watch enough Law & Order and C.S.I. to know about these things! 

(sarcasm) ... if they want you they will get you. 

HAHAHA!! Me too!  I love those crime shows and really if they want you THEY WILL FIND YOU!!!  HAHAHA

[Candid Carrie]

Knock it off Zimk and Ace ... and I know  who you are and where  you live

[my2boyz]

When it comes to the kids I try to be a bit cautious, but as you know Carrie I am a REALTOR, I am everywhere! 

[Candid Carrie]

It is weird people, but last year in our city (Susan and I are in the same city) we had a realtor stalked by two brothers and another realtor about an hour away that was murdered during an home showing.  Neither incident had to do with blogging, though.  So you are safe here with me, Susan.