Do you tell people you blog?

I recently read a post on Forking Mad+ (🐘) asking: Do you tell people you blog?

Let me start from a very Oedipal place: my mother doesn't know. Why? Because she is an anxious person, and she would very likely worry that I could get into trouble in Germany for complaining about it. The answer to what happened when I criticised my homeland will be in a future post (coming soon).

Still, do I want to share it with her? I think I do, and I plan to wait until I become a German citizen. I believe her mind will be much more at ease then.

Who else haven't I told? I have a few close friends in Turkey, and while they are dealing with so many serious problems there, I worry they might find my complaints about Germany a bit spoiled.

There is also another group I haven't told. They believe strongly in the distinction between "champagne socialists*" and "real Turkish leftists," and they sometimes dismiss these issues as "wokeness." Honestly, it feels to me like a way of expressing their own conservatism. Maybe I will unpack that and explain it properly another time.

Now, to the main question: who does know?

Some of my close friends know, mostly the political ones, though a few of them are not political at all. Especially my friends living abroad know. My partner knows and follows the blog. The leftists I met in Berlin whom I can call friends know, as do German leftists and my current and former flatmates.

I haven't told anyone at my workplace. Two people know that I keep a blog, though they don't know the address. I didn't share it because I don't feel particularly safe in that environment.

Beyond that, I honestly don't know who else knows.

I also want to write about why I keep this blog anonymous in a future post (coming soon).

Finally, if you want to know who I actually write for, I explain that in my earlier post What Well-Educated Means and Why I Wear This Label.

* "Champagne socialist" is a term used mainly in the United Kingdom for self-identified socialists, communists, or anarchists whose luxurious lifestyle, symbolised by champagne, seems to contradict their political beliefs. It is commonly used as an insult that implies hypocrisy, and it is closely related to the idea of the liberal elite. Wikipedia contributors, "Champagne socialist," Wikipedia, retrieved 15 November 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champagne_socialist

** In Turkish, the closest colloquial equivalent is tatlı su solcusu ("freshwater leftist"), used for leftists whose politics are seen as comfortable and performative. There is no Wikipedia entry for this term.

*** In German, the equivalent is Toskana-Fraktion, used for affluent left-leaning people who champion progressive causes from a comfortable position. Wikipedia contributors, "Toskana-Fraktion," Wikipedia (Deutsch), section "Analoge Begriffe," https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toskana-Fraktion#Analoge_Begriffe

**** In French, the equivalent is gauche caviar, used for wealthy left-leaning people whose politics are seen as a lifestyle choice. Wikipédia contributors, "Gauche caviar," Wikipédia (français), https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauche_caviar

[Note to self: a post comparing these idioms across languages could be interesting.]