In his post at the Language Log “On not writing anything”, Roger Shuy elaborates on his thesis that the less you write online, the greater are your chances to get ahead in certain contexts. If you do publish anything (no matter what), chances are that somebody will use it against you some time. Hmmm. Maybe I should stop typing at once.
But here’s at least the first paragraph of Shuy’s article:
As anyone who blogs knows or soon learns, doing so makes you a whole lot more transparent than you might otherwise wish to be. In fact, writing anything like books, articles, or blogs makes you an attractive target for people who may not appreciate what you say. No clearer example can be found than the vetting process the government inflicts on nominees for high-level appointments, such as the US Supreme Court. It’s unfortunate that the persons who finally survive these processes are often are the ones who have written little or nothing about which they can be criticized.
So forget your hopes of becoming the next Bavarian “Kultusminister”. You’ve already written too much ;-)