It’s official, privacy is dead – but that’s not such a bad thing after all.

Somehow, I thought that by keeping this “blog” less about my actual thoughts and more of a resume addendum, I was preventing potential employers from being offended by something I do or say. When I first set up this site, for example, I had one potential boss chastise me for calling the tea-baggers “whack jobs.” Apparently, that’s not very professional. Point taken.

But I should have known better than to withhold my thoughts and personality here – politics is the business of opinion!

In a more recent interview I was asked who I could “bring in” to the company with me. Who are my people? Who do I influence? Who listens to me?

I came up short. This whole time I’d been trying to keep my online presence a clean slate, my Twitter feed private, my Facebook profile on total lockdown. What an amateur mistake!

I suppose it’s about time I get with it and kiss goodbye my ideas of keeping a low profile in the 21st century. After all, the merits of relationship-building online were hammered into me at NOI’s BootCamp – and no good relationship can begin without open, honest and authentic people on every side of the exchange. What’s most ironic is that for anyone who knows me, in personal exchanges I’ve never been one to keep my opinion to myself!

If for no other reason, I am inspired to start taking blogging more seriously now that I’m on my way to Netroots Nation, the biggest gathering of bloggers and online junkies in the world. For four years now, the people behind DailyKos have organized this conference, where progressive activists gather to learn from one another, find out what’s new on the ‘net and discuss how to effect the political landscape using the tools provided by the Internet.

It’s my first time attending NN and I can barely contain my excitement, which is continuously inflamed by the enthusiasm of others who have already gone and remain jubilant. After spending two summers in Washington, DC hanging out with progressive netroots activists, I’m looking forward to meeting other interesting online personalities live and in living color!

That’s what’s so fabulous about shedding one’s anonymity online and expressing your opinions and beliefs in a public way – the possibility of connecting with others and creating meaningful, fruitful relationships is exponentially greater than doing so off-line, where time and space can be limiting.

The people behind Netroots Nation clearly understand this: they’re hosting a mirror conference online in real time using Second Life (the online community of avatars interacting in a “Sims”-like environment that I still don’t completely understand) and are encouraging online interaction from those who couldn’t make the trek to Pittsburgh or pay the entry fee. My final hat tip to Netroots Nation is for the $50 student entry fee, an opportunity that made it possible for me to be joining everyone today.

I’ll check back in after the conference to let you know if Netroots Nation turned out to be everything I’m hoping for.

For now, I’m simply happy to say, I’m here and I’m ready to get my blog on.