Why "transparency"?
Let's try something a little different, even though it may overload blogger. I'm going to pose a question for discussion, and I would like each of you to add a comment. But as you comment, please take into account not only the original question but each of the previous comments, as well.
Today's readings addressed the issue of anonymity, with one suggesting that keeping your blog anonymous is a good way to avoid getting in trouble, and another arguing that anonymity violates blogging standards of transparency. He recommends simply using common sense to avoid posting anything that might get you into trouble.
Would you or are you blogging anonymously? Why? Why not? Here's one person's defense. What's yours? (For doing it or not.)
posted by Donna @ 2/02/2006 01:28:00 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
I suppose I blog semi-anonymously. My user name, hannel, is a compination of my first initial, middle name and last initial, but I suppose anyone that doesn't know me personally wouldn't catch that.
I don't really have a desire for people to know my real name or more about me, though. I'm not ashamed of anything I post, I just don't think my true identity is necessary to understand what I write. Yes, on political, news or occupation blogs more detail would be essential, but I don't think my work falls in any of those sectors. If nothing else, not knowing who I am may help readers find greater meaning within each post. It's just like when you read a fantasy story - you get to come up with your own picture of each character and setting so that they relate closest to you. Anonymity can help one bypass social barriers and take more meaning away from each post
I think your blog is your own personal property, and can be done however you choose. A person should certainly be able to blog anonymously if they want to. With all the horror stories you hear about people getting in trouble or fired from their jobs because of something they said on their blog, I wonder why everyone doesn't blog anonymously. I try to remain anonymous on my blog for my own reasons (psycho ex-girlfriend), and anyone who doesn't like it can go read something else.
My blog is also semi-anonymous. K and R are my first two initials, and one of my family nicknames, so anyone I'm good friends with may be able to figure it out. My reasons for keeping my identity on the down-low range from not wanting to be ostracized for a post someone misunderstood, to having the freedom to talk about my life without people knowing it's MY life.
Like others in this class, I, too, commend bloggers who are open about who they are and don't mind the heat that comes with that admission. And really, the idea of being held fully accountable is really appealing to me, because I do feel strongly on a number of issues and I don't want to hide.
But the negative side-effects of, say, one of the grad schools to which I've applied finding my blog, and judging me on my posts, is just too risky right now. The public is fickle, and from one post to the next, friends can be made or lost. I would just rather keep it simple, and keep it anonymous for now.
In the case of this class, it makes it uber-tricky, though, because I can't always tell who's commenting on my posts or whose thoughts I'm reading.
Maybe it's more interesting, not knowing what name to put to which face, but it can be a little bit disappointing. I can't go up to a person and say, "hey, that post was really cool." But I guess that's what the blog comments are for.
alb suggests that no one reads blogs to expand his/her horizons. I must disagree. While it's true that people might tend to seek out like-minded people, even within that community, there are differences. to give a very mild example: I read blogs by people whose opinions I don't always agree with, expressly so that I will stretch my thinking and consider new ideas.
Now, to give a somewhat wild example: I read a pseudononymous blog by a woman who is a professor somewhere in some field (she keeps these details vague for obvious reasons). She often blogs about her husband and young son. How nice. Then, not too long ago, I realized that, along with her husband, she has a boyfriend. It's an open marriage. I was rather shocked. Scandalized, even. And while I might not have gone looking for a person blogging about an open marriage, I'm now confronted with a person whose blog I've enjoyed who is in an open marriage. So I'm forced to confront an issue, concept, lifestyle that I might not otherwise have spent a lot of time thinking about.
So, there you have it. Horizons expanded.
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