Activerain has given so many people the platform to expand business, network, find answers, seek support both professional and personal, vent our frustrations, and get to know others, and ourselves, a little bit better.  The entire concept of Activerain with its tie-ins to Localism, and now our outside blogs, can only be applauded for the forum and opportunities provided to both members and consumers.

Recently, problems have cropped up where members' blog posts and/or comments to private Activerain groups have been made public through Localism.  Personally, I have to admit that this can be pretty disturbing because the private groups I belong to were set up as private for valid reasons:  members can share their thoughts, blow off some steam, or kick back and relax without worrying over offending other people.  While I don't believe I've posted anything offensive, I'm sure I've made more than few wise-cracking comments that would not present me in the best professional light possible.

With some trepidation, I searched through Localism looking for my comments.  I reset the settings on my Activerain home page.  I googled myself.  Attempting to figure out whether or not I needed to do some major league damage control over comments I assumed would remain private.  I started reading other posts to see if anyone else was doing the same.

And then, sanity set back in again.  What's done is done, and even if my posts and comments aren't currently on Localism, there's always the heart-stopping thought that they've already been cached.  I can't do anything about that.  To the best of my belief, the worst of what I've said simply presents me in a less than flattering form professionally.  They are a small insight into what I'm like when I'm just being me, not trying to nail a listing or pull together a sale.  It is not who I am as a whole, and I am still just human.

All said and done, things could have been much worse.  It could have been my social security number, credit history, medical records, or worse - my real age.  I think I can weather this, and wait patiently while the 'Rain gods work this problem out.  In the meantime,  I might not swear like a truck driver quite so much, but I will keep on posting.