Private blogs viewed only by friends and family members

Living two thousand miles away from friends and family, including my kid’s grandparents, I can see the value of a blog to share events and photos. And sharing with family, as opposed to the public at a large to be indexed by Google, is a big plus.

The New York Times writes about blog service that can do just this.

A new service, Vox, offers free personal blogging sites where you can decide who will see each posted item. If you post pictures of your children, for example, you can mark them for family-member-only viewing. But if you write a book review, you may mark it for friends as well as family, or even for public viewing.

The Vox blog has its disadvantages. People who want to be designated as friends or family must first register with Vox, setting up accounts so that the software will recognize them. This takes only a few moments, but many people will probably be put off by the extra step. And while Vox is free to users, its costs are paid in part by ads on each page, a feature that some people may find distracting.

But the service is not hard to navigate, and people who can put up with the ads — and who don’t mind asking their friends to register — may find themselves enjoying the pleasures of blogging without worrying about the costs of personal exposure.

Not a service for law firm blogs, but something you guys becoming accustomed to blogging my want to try out.