A disclaimer for you, the kind reader and my future employers (or current one): Please forgive me. I was just kidding around.
I will never do anything described in my writings, or interact with people in an antisocial, confrontational or demeaning manner in real life (really…).
I will smile and be clean-cut and professional, an interview will look very similar to this…
Now back to reality…
Having an online presence of any sort comes with the increasing possibility that employers could search for an employee’s name or personal details, and they could discover a spider’s web of links and identities that tell a complicated and realistic story of who you are… or what you do.
This can be good — perhaps they will find out that you have a legit and deep interest in what they want to hire you for or bad — perhaps you say things that are immoral, illegal or fictional that disqualify you or frighten a potential or current employer.
Personally, I endeavor to “keep it real,” but there always is the possibility that someone will read something “off-color” or subversive, and it will have unintended and unseen negative personal repercussions.
Does this knowledge change the manner in which I write? Perhaps… I would say that it makes me focus a bit more on the message or thought I am trying to “flesh-out” rather than on self-censorship. I love a meta-type relationship in which the message written, the reaction and the metal representation of the reaction have a complicated and inextricable relationship that changes itself in ways not perceived on a conscious level.
I think that the intentional self-censorship based upon this fear has a minor chilling effect on blogging and online social interactions (if people even realize that this is possible), but, simultaneously, managing the perceptions of others through your writing allows you a different perspective on yourself and who you want to be and allows you a greater depth of writing based upon this abstract concept.
It all comes back to the eternal yearning for the grand narrative that weaves together your life and imbues meaning into your existence: “who am I? what am I doing? what does life mean for me?”
