Guest Posted August 24, 2010 Report Share Posted August 24, 2010 I've been planning on launching a blog and the decision I have to make is an interesting one - blog with my identity, or a pseudonym? What do you guys think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 24, 2010 Report Share Posted August 24, 2010 It depends on what purpose your blog is serving. If you blog with your real name, you'll be constantly self-censoring yourself and speculating as to what a prospective employer will make of your comments years from now. Having said that, I think that blogging as a subject matter expert does make you stand out from the crowd. So you just have to decide whether or not the pros outweigh the cons. Of course, if your blog is simply a platform for venting your spleen, then you might want to do it anonymously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alee228 Posted August 24, 2010 Report Share Posted August 24, 2010 Good question, Victor. I agree with wil that it depends on the purpose of your blog. The issue appears to be one of reputation. If you blog anonymously then the ideas or opinions you put forward will not affect your reputation. You can be crazy, controversial, shallow, sensible, anti-establishment, misguided, or whatever you want to be. You can even put forward opinions that aren't your own, just to see what happens, and not worry about people misinterpreting you or quoting you out of context in 10 years time when you are running for federal politics. The ability to write freely and without consequences can be very beneficial (and I have written anonymous blogs in the past). One of the best ways to test ideas (and decide whether you agree with them) is to put them out into the world and see how people respond. In a digital world, you may not want this formative trial and error process to go down on your permanent record. If we assume for the sake of argument that in the long run it is more important "who" you are than "what" you do, or "how" you do it then writing an anonymous blog could come with a large and often overlooked downside. Writing an anonymous blog allows you to put forward ideas without standing behind them. It allows you to write without purpose and "without identity". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 1, 2010 Report Share Posted September 1, 2010 I saw an interesting program the other day on women who anonymously blogged about sex, and how they amassed a huge cult following/readership. Eventually the press got a whiff of it and proceeded to trick the bloggers into blowing their cover. I think that if you put content online, chances are someone might be able to join the dots and discover who you are 'in real life'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 23, 2010 Report Share Posted September 23, 2010 Thanks gentlemen, I think I'll embrace the digital age's interconnectedness and live a life without privacy... After I play around with a pen name for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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