Recently I’ve been debating the topic of transparency, not only for full disclosure online, but even with friends and family. It’s something, that at times, has plagued friendships, relationship and even my family. While I was in Berlin, my sister called me asking where I was as she had not heard from me for a few days.

Not sure where this stems from but I have never felt the need to share everything. It’s funny because I share quite a bit on social networking sites. But I rarely talk about my personal life even to very close friends. I keep a lot to myself.

It seems befitting that I work at with a lot with NDA (Non disclose agreements). I cannot even begin to tell how many NDA I have signed in the past year alone. I get work on great projects and products but I am not able to talk about it. So when people ask me about work I have very little to say.

At a party recently I was asked by a drunk girl why weren’t friends… We had hung out a bit for the past year but we weren’t friends, just mere acquaintances, if that. I explained that I groups of people I know, in my personal life that does not include my family there are three: acquaintances, friends, and close friends (these are usually those that are close than family).

Through out the years I have been on social networks, Myspace, the beginnings of Facebook and twitter, people share a vast number of personal information. Some people believe because you read their tweets, statis, tumblr post, you know them.

If you look at my life stream on any social site you can see parts of me, yet you might never see the complete picture.

Intimacy is not something you give lightly. I have this thing of giving things value. I think Emerson said it best, “Rings and jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts. The only true gift is a portion of thyself.” Intimacy, transparency is something I thrive towards, and there will be parts of my life that will be transparent. But my private life… that’s something I will share at my behest. Not because I am very protective person, but because it’s something I give value to. And when I share it conveys the notion of how important that person is in my life.