When I started this blog only one thing was certain. It HAD to be anonymous. I didn’t tell anyone what I was doing….not even a casual mention that I was starting a blog. In all of my posts I take care to keep out identifying information such as the city I live in, people’s names, when my boyfriends birthday is , when mine is, as well as what we actually do for a living. Its not that I’m scared one of you readers will hunt me down, its out of the fear that someone I know will read this and realize its me!!!
I think thats a valid fear (right?) and I’m guessing many bloggers stay anonymous because of that (OR perhaps they truly are scared that someone will become a stalker and hunt them down…and perhaps steal their money? Eeek, that does sound pretty scary!) It makes me sad that this is what I’m scared of. I’m scared that my friends and/or family will know what I think about certain things, what goes on in my life, how I feel about money, and what I do with my money. Or maybe I’d just be embarrassed for them to see my silly rantings (meh, they already know I’m a dork).
Interestingly, I don’t really care about my friends or family finding out exactly how much money I make. Maybe I should care, as money does sometimes create a different dynamic once its out in the open. Its just not at the top of my list of concerns.
So, how pathetic am I? Should I let loose a little and let out those little random details I’ve been holding back? Would it matter if I was “found out”?
Or more importantly, why do the rest of you stay anonymous? Do your friends and/or families know about your little home on the blogosphere?
May 5, 2008 at 6:58 pm
I’ve been “found out” by a couple readers that contacted me and guessed where I work, both work at the same company and recognized the benefits. And I’ve mentioned my city since the la area is so large.
They were super nice/friendly, but it still was a little weird, and I’ve tried to remove some identifying details. In fact, that reminds me to go back and do a better clean-up .
My friends/family don’t know. My boyfriend doesn’t even know. Weird, huh?
May 5, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Like you, I have always wanted to be anonymous. Mostly, I wanted to have an outlet where I could say anything the heck I wanted and get feedback from smart, interesting people who cared about the same things.
A lot of the things I blog I also talk about with my family/friends, but not in the same exact way. It’s just freer, more open on a blog.
Confession: I have this secret fear that someone I work with is reading regularly, and that does make me censor my words sometimes. I had posted several things about my department, things about people I work with for example–and I made those private if I thought it would offend them. So even in a “free” environment, I’m not really free.
Ah, well. I think the only reason I would go public would be if there was some benefit that outweighed anonymity–a column in the NY Times, for example. LOL.
May 5, 2008 at 9:54 pm
I’d like to be fully anonymous, but R told his father about the blog. I hasn’t made too much impact, but I have started thinking twice about a few things before I post them. Still post, but not a free now.
I definitely like being anon. for all the reasons you said. Although, with our description you could probably figure out who we were pretty easily.
May 9, 2008 at 11:10 am
I think some of my information is anonymous, but I have linked to things in the past that could pretty much ID me to people, especially if they got creepy and stalkery. I do have a link to my blog in my facebook profile, but I really would rather have complete strangers read and get something out of my blog than have my friends read it…mostly because maybe I’m a bit ashamed that I’m not a fabulous writer when it comes to blogs…