Let me begin by saying that all blogs are not created equal. Since they burst onto the Internet scene a few short years ago, blogs have been misunderstood, over-simplified and taken completely out of context.

Being some what confused as to the definition of a blog myself, I decided to conduct an informal survey to find out how many of my Fabulously Forty Sorority sisters could define the true meaning and purpose of a blog. After contacting several dozen of you, I learned that many didnt know what a blog was, and of those who did, most misunderstood its purpose. Going a bit further in my research, I contacted an expert blog writer, who gave me the following description:

Blog is shorthand for weblog. Simply put, a blog is a frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links. Blogs can be strictly business, intensely personal and everything in-between. Their primary purpose is to provide a forum for individuals to express their thoughts, feelings, opinions, ideas and information on a particular subject on an ongoing basis.

My First Opinion

Now that we know what blogs are, and what a great source of information exchange this could be for the Fabulously Forty crowd, I am committing to writing a blog at least a few times each month.

So heres my first opinion. Blogs offer a wonderful tool for reaching out to others and sharing ideas and information. At the same time, they present a real danger to the nave and the uniformed.

For those of you who have children, please sit down and explain to your kids that all blogs are public information. When children post information about themselves on MySpace.com, or any other websites that offers them to post their blog, anything they post can be viewed not only by their peers, but also by their schoolteachers, college professors and future employers. In fact, many employers are already beginning to search MySpace.com and other websites as a regular part of their pre-employment screening process.

Our innocent and trusting children need to understand that everything we do in life has consequences. If they post a message with inappropriate content, they will pay the price. Granted, some may get away with it and never be reprimanded. Others, however, will not be so lucky. All it takes is one adult in a position of authority to ruin the chance of getting that internship your child wanted or that job they applied for after finishing grad school.

In this new era of technology, its becoming increasingly difficult to keep our privacy under control. Dont let your children compound the situation by making mistakes that will come back to haunt them when they become adults.

Your Thoughts?

The best part about blogs is the opportunity for the blogger and her audience to interact with each other. I welcome your feedback and would love to hear any reaction you have to this blog.