Michelle Hainer

Should You Let Your Teens Blog?

Millions of blogs already exist, and thousands more appear each day.

So if your teens are interested in joining the blogosphere, don't be surprised.

While you don't want to stifle their creative freedom, it's perfectly natural to be a bit concerned about what they're going to be writing about -- especially if they have a tendency to overshare. And having been in media for a long time, I can tell you there's a fine line between recounting the innocent details of your day to posting the kind of information that can compromise their privacy -- and yours.

If your teens decide they want to start a blog, here's my advice:

1. Set up some ground rules.

Do this before they write their first post. Start off by asking them what their theme is going to be. Do they love to cook and want to share recipes? Will it be more of a diary of random thoughts and feelings? Will they be blogging about trying to reach a specific goal?

2. Agree on what won't be written about.

Once you know what their angle is, you can help them decide which topics and details are off-limits.

3. Safeguard contact info.

Also, be sure to caution them against giving away any personal biographical information, like their date of birth, address and phone number.

4. Find out how they'll be publicizing the blog.

Will they post it on Facebook? Email it to a handful of friends? With this information, you'll be setting up ground rules with their audience in mind.

Once you have a better understanding of their intentions, you'll feel better about their decision to become bloggers. And you might even become their biggest follower.