I am going to steer clear of recovery for just a moment to talk a bit about social networking and it's relation to anonymity. While everything I am doing is well intentioned and I have a clear conscious about it, it is also an experiment of sorts.
I began this blog in conjunction with a fake (completely anonymous) Facebook profile and linked a Twitter account to it all in an effort to build a sober social network I could not only interact with but also draw inspiration from. I wanted to get out there and meet you in the World Wide Web and talk to you about recovery.
Before long though I had been removed from some sites, certain people had taken issue with some of my actions, questioned my motives and perhaps even spoiled it all by reporting me to Facebook.
The reason for all of this is as follows: I was networking extensively from my primary FB profile with drunks and addicts across the globe, sharing bits and pieces of me as I saw fit. Then I began Groups for my business and soon I was friends with employees and co-workers and business contacts as well as family and recovering people. What those in recovery were saying was getting lost in the fold and what I wanted them to hear from me was be received by too broad of a network.
Soon I found myself unwilling to make new sober friends or participate in groups for fear that I may divulge too much info to the wrong people. Unhappy with this option I decided to make another profile...and here it is. I rapidly added as many people who were active in the FB groups and had multiple years of sobriety in an effort to cast nets into the sober world. I also planned to slowly pick through those connections and weed out those that were offense or otherwise not like minded.
If you have found yourself here, chances are I wanted you to be here or you are a great finder of awesome things...Which ever the case may be, I am happy to have you and have the freedom to talk to you all about whatever you want pertaining to sobriety. Lesson learned...I am going to talk about sobriety on your wall and if it interferes with your daily interactions with the real world, follow my lead, drop FB a note asking for a solution as AA moves into the digital age...
I began this blog in conjunction with a fake (completely anonymous) Facebook profile and linked a Twitter account to it all in an effort to build a sober social network I could not only interact with but also draw inspiration from. I wanted to get out there and meet you in the World Wide Web and talk to you about recovery.
Before long though I had been removed from some sites, certain people had taken issue with some of my actions, questioned my motives and perhaps even spoiled it all by reporting me to Facebook.
The reason for all of this is as follows: I was networking extensively from my primary FB profile with drunks and addicts across the globe, sharing bits and pieces of me as I saw fit. Then I began Groups for my business and soon I was friends with employees and co-workers and business contacts as well as family and recovering people. What those in recovery were saying was getting lost in the fold and what I wanted them to hear from me was be received by too broad of a network.
Soon I found myself unwilling to make new sober friends or participate in groups for fear that I may divulge too much info to the wrong people. Unhappy with this option I decided to make another profile...and here it is. I rapidly added as many people who were active in the FB groups and had multiple years of sobriety in an effort to cast nets into the sober world. I also planned to slowly pick through those connections and weed out those that were offense or otherwise not like minded.
If you have found yourself here, chances are I wanted you to be here or you are a great finder of awesome things...Which ever the case may be, I am happy to have you and have the freedom to talk to you all about whatever you want pertaining to sobriety. Lesson learned...I am going to talk about sobriety on your wall and if it interferes with your daily interactions with the real world, follow my lead, drop FB a note asking for a solution as AA moves into the digital age...
A JFT reading recently covered anonymity, and it really had made me think. My feeling thus far is that I am semi-public about my recovery, attempting to cast the net of support among friends on FB/Twitter, and then gradually weed out those who were unsupportive of my recovery (online as well as in person). My friends knowing I'm in recovery has helped keep me accountable to my own recovery. Though I'm on Step Two, I'm consciously trying to find the balance of practicing attraction rather that promotion. The number of friends I've had come forward and ask for my E/S/H while they individually determine whether or not they think they have a problem has been especially rewarding. It re-energizes me to continue on my own step work. I do believe, however, that the amount to which you disclose to others online is an absolutely personal choice, and should only be done after careful examination of your own personal and professional situations.
ReplyDeleteGreat comments...thanks for your input...I by no means want to make rules, simply want to act as a warning to others who may have similar situations...
ReplyDeleteAlso I have petitioned Facebook to allow people to have sections off their profile remain anonymous...