Robert Scoble, famed ex-Microsoftee and pro blogger, has long mandated that one of the best things you can do to deliver a human element on your blog is to make yourself easily contactable - whether through e-mail, or even better, by posting your cell phone number, so readers can contact you any time.Today, that literally "rang" true for me, as the father of one of the A's players called me, asking for printed copies of The ANtics comics. We talked quite a bit this morning, and again this evening, about their content, and he will soon be receiving a booklet of the last two years' comics, to share with his son.
Our calls today were a big highlight for me. I'm not easily star-struck, but I greatly enjoyed talking with this easy-going, sharp man who loves his son and loves baseball. Had I avoided the transparency, and not posted my cell phone on the blog, we never would have talked.
Rather than hide from personal directories and expect anonymity, I strongly believe we should identify with who we are and what we say on the Web. Use real e-mails that identify with your name. Use URLs that include your name. And post your cell phone number. It makes you real.
(Previously: "Privacy on the Web Is Gone")