With thousands of people opening up their personal blogs every day, blogs are becoming a media form of their own. But, many do not realize that what they post could very well get them in trouble in real life. I learned this first hand in high school. Posting you think the bully in your school is an asshole is a sure fire way of getting your ass kicked. The Washington Post has an interesting article on the legalities of what authors post to their blogs.

Posting information or opinions on the Internet is not much different from publishing in a newspaper, and if the information is defamatory, compromises trade secrets, or violates copyright or trademark regulations, the publisher could face legal claims and monetary damages.

I’m sure theres more than one or two posts on this site that contain information that could get me into some sort of trouble. With my site getting more and more traffic every month I try harder and harder to keep my content legal-trouble free.

This is another interesting point to note. I feel that I would be a lot more open in my blog if it were anonymous. I’d let loose some of my more liberal (and conservative) feelings that I now hold back out of fear of offending a coworker, family member, or future employer.