Hellobee Boards

I'm pretty much on the same page as you are. I'm pretty open to the point that I would be IRL. I'm not going to say anything that I don't want people to know, I'm not going to talk bad about someone for fear that they're going to find this site, etc.

@coco bee and @artbee - I share the same sentiments. I'm a pretty open and trusting person in general, but just don't post anything I might later regret. I am pretty active on a lot of social networks!

When it comes to social networks (like Facebook), I'm an open book. I tend not to post too much anyway, so I'm not ashamed of anything I have up, including pictures.

When it comes to somewhere like Hellobee though, I prefer to be a little more anonymous, only for my husband's sake. My husband is a VERY private person and I know he wouldn't appreciate half of the things I say, like when we have sex or any relationship issues we might have. That's why on forums, I prefer to be anonymous, out of respect for him. I don't mind people knowing that kind of stuff, because I have no sense of privacy, but Hubs would mind, so I don't want my Adira-self associated with my real-self.

I'm pretty much right with y'all. I'm pretty conscious about what I post, I make sure to not post anything that I wouldn't want anyone in "real life" to see (personal TMI things, negative things, etc.). With that being said, I think I'm pretty "linked in" (blog, facebook, etc.) and don't mind if someone finds me on here.

If there's anything "negative" to discuss (which, don't get me wrong, there often is!), I have a few close friends/family that I keep those conversations to, so they're not able to be tracked back through the interwebz!

I tend to be very impulsive with what I post, I learned that the hard way with some stuff I posted on WB back in the day. Back then I was able to have it deleted, but it makes me much more careful about what I post since I can't go back and delete it myself. Especially considering some drama that took place around our wedding, I was VERY glad I never posted about it online and risked family members seeing. Since then I'm extremely private about what I share on a non-password-protected "community" - it's still the internet. On Facebook I'm an open book.

I'm open. Here's my thing: I post on here almost like writing in a dynamic diary. I would write things in my diary that might hurt people who would read it, but I have written it without meaning for them to read it, so I don't feel bad. Everyone needs to vent.
If any IRL people I know are following me and not telling me and I hurt them, well, I would say they should have told me that they found me on HB, otherwise they have to just realize that everyone has to vent and it is healthy.
I am more open here than IRL but I honestly wouldn't mind if I found out one day that an IRL friend had been reading all the TMI stuff I wrote here.

@travelingbrit: this. you just never know.

There's things I share with friends and things I share with everybody. I want to be honest about frustrations and breastmilk and sex and I can't do that if I'm worried that LO or grandma or some future boss will find it. I'm most worried about the work situation since my experience so far has been that mothers of young children are treated like lepers.

I actually share a ton more about my life on HB than anywhere else. For me it's not about hiding anything, or regretting what I've said. To me, it's about keeping certain discussions between "us" on HB and not some random passerby. One may argue that that is impossible even if there was a private registered users only option, but for some reason, it just makes me feel better since it'd make things a little more difficult for ppl that aren't part of our community to gain access to certain private images, etc.

I was part of a similar msg board once, for expats. Someone had actually took our discussions and made a separate website and translated them into the local language! It's not like anything we were saying was controversial in any way, so I'm not even sure why they did it - but it was still pretty disturbing.

I now live in a country that's very open. Anyone can pretty much narrow down where you live and all of your info based on a name. I bet I'm the only American in my little town. So yeh, it's a whole other dimension.

@Crumbs: Was that expat board public or private?

@mrbee: It was public.

I want to be able to post tmi or vent without people I know reading!

I'm clearly a very open person - I've posted clear pics of me on this site and I use my real name. But, the "open for everyone to read" thing really, really worries me.

Firstly, I really appreciate Hellobee because I don't feel that I can talk about TTC with the 3D people in my life - certainly not in the way I do here! I'd be mortified if any of my IRL friends saw some of the things I've written here - I pour my heart and soul out.

Secondly, I wouldn't want anyone from work to know I was TTC in case they overlooked me for promotion etc (while I know that this is illegal, it still happens).

I don't pretend that I am anonymous on Hellobee. I am more open here than I would be on Facebook for example, but I still try not to say anything that would cause issues in my personal life or professionally. I'll admit I toe the line but I try to censor myself.

On WB, I had a situation where I was too open and assumed I was anonymous, and it created a very uncomfortable and embarrassing situation for me. So I try to keep in mind that nothing online is truly anonymous. Having said that, I don't use my full name or photos on this site to keep it separate from my "real life" network.