Public but not public

Last week, I was talking with one of my friends at the club, and he said that he had written something that was somewhat personal on his blog, and that it bothered him that his manager was bringing it up at meetings as an example of how blogs can show personality (or something like that).

I also have things on my blog that I'd prefer people don't mention in a large group, and I started thinking about why that was the case. I have two reasons:

First, when I'm writing my blog I'm writing it for people who already know something about me from what I've already written, so the effect that a single post that I write on - I don't know, the fact that I like to read Jane Austen novels from time to time - is going to have much less overall effect on what people think of me than if that's one of the only things the know about me.

Second, there's a considerable difference between me relating something, and somebody else providing a quick summary of what I said. If they're doing it online, they can easily provide a link to my original words, and then people can decided for themselves what I really mean, but if it's done in person, I don't get that opportunity.

So what do you think?