I was on a thread this spring, about the appearance of the Facebook and Twitter buttons, and got rather arsey about the arsey response from Justine at MNHQ, reminding us all that MN is a public forum, and we all ought to be aware of eavesdroppers.
I had argued that the nature of parenthood, especially early parenthood, (sleepless nights, depression, being cut off from networks, being vulnerable at work and home, etc.), some posters could not be presumed to be giving informed consent.
Another poster started a thread about how the FB/Twitter buttons were on sensitive issues such as bereavement.
However, having seen the new innovations of Off the Beaten Track and the personal messaging, I want to thank MNHQ for offering some potential solutions to these issues. The OTBT in particular is good. Of course, MN remains visible to the world, and accessible under pseudonyms, but the power of aggregated statistical analysis is blunter, and outsiders are less likely to stumble upon private information.
However, if anyone wants to suggest other moves, or loopholes in this new regime (am I being naively optimistic?), let's hear them!