Daisy’s note: I’ve posted before about why I DO blog anonymously, and have discussed it at length here on the blog, but when Manda from Break The Sky sent me this guest post about why she doesn’t blog anonymously, I thought it would be the perfect yin to my yang. Enjoy!
Ever wonder whether you should blog anonymously? Anonymity is a powerful thing. It can be especially so on the Internet, where everything lasts forever and anything can be found with enough searching.
When it comes to blogging, maintaining anonymity can be mighty appealing. Bloggers can get more personal with certain topics without feeling like they’re revealing too much about themselves, since there’s no name or face tied to the content. They can write about things that happen with friends and family more openly, even if names aren’t mentioned. A lot of the time, maintaining some level of anonymity with blogging can make the whole “sharing my life with the world” process less tricky.
Funnily enough, when I first started blogging I didn’t even consider blogging anonymously. I’m not sure I realized it was an option! However, I’ve only recently allowed my last name to be linked to my blog, but considering I link to my blog on my “name domain” (my full name .com) it’s not like my blog is hard to find for those who know me offline.
Just as I’m sure there are major perks to blogging anonymously, there are with blogging publicly, too. Here’s a few reasons why I don’t blog anonymously:
- I like putting my name to my work.
Call me a narcissist or a show-off, but there’s something satisfying about attaching my name to my work. Pen names and aliases have this benefit too, but there isn’t always the perk of sharing aforementioned work with everyone you know. I probably get such satisfaction out of it because a lot of the writing at my day job gets attributed to someone else or is copywriting, so it’s not like my name is at the top of the majority of material authored by me. - I can use my blog as marketable experience in my field (communications).
My blog is professional in both tone and content, even if I’m rarely writing about professional topics. Because my coworkers know about my blog and social media activities, I can leverage my hobby into responsibilities I want to take on at work or develop into a future career. Recently, a client asked my company to help develop and launch a social media campaign for a new initiative. My supervisor tapped me to staff the account because she’s a fan of my blog and knows that I’ve already got the skills that the initiative needs for a successful launch. I didn’t even need to fight for the chance to work on the account! - It allows me to share my blog with friends and family.
While this might be the definitive reason as to why some bloggers decide to blog anonymously, I really like being able to share my blog with friends and family. I grew up in several countries, went to a bunch of different schools, and have spent extensive time traveling abroad. My network is vast! Facebook, while great for keeping in touch at a distance, just doesn’t cut it, particularly when it comes to relatives. - It turns out people I know offline don’t really care about my blog, for the most part.
When I started blogging, I didn’t exactly run out and tell everyone I had a blog, even though I never hid my name or face from the Internet. However, once the cat was fully out of the bag, it turns out that only a small sliver of my friends actually have the interest to keep up with my blog for more than a couple of posts. Most of the friends that are regular readers are bloggers themselves (you bet I’m reading their blogs, too). Those that don’t blog check in every now and then, but for the most part they don’t really care. (It helps that I don’t share anything personal about them.) Even my mom only keeps halfhearted tabs on my blog!
Manda is a PR girl by day and blogger by night. A world traveler, she’s always dreaming about her next travel destination, although her home city of Hong Kong will always hold a special place in her heart. Other things she’s passionate about include books, cupcakes, makeup and tea. She has a tendency to listen to her favorite songs on repeat and has been known to crave noodles at 2 a.m. She can be found on Twitter and Facebook
Starting a blog? You may also be interested to read some of my other posts about the subject:
Blogging 101
- Why Should You Blog? I Have a Bunch of Reasons!
- If You’re Just Starting Out, You Should Start on WordPress. Here’s why
- Ways to Inject Personality Into Your Posts (because nobody wants to read boring stuff)
- A Post About Knowing Your Audience
- If You Want a Successful, Money Making Blog, You Should Outsource (or quit your job and blog full time)
- Make Sure You Are Running Your Blog Like You’d Run Your Business
- Learn From My Mistakes in Blogging
Should You Blog Anonymously?
Feel free to email me with any blogging questions and I’d be happy to help!
I think if you are looking for freelance work having your name and photo besides your work is a big bonus. Plus it makes you look more credible to potential clients.
Hi Manda, these are great points. I too find that many of my “in the flesh” friends and family don’t keep up with my blog. I think they figure they already know me or don’t want to know me…hee hee! I find that when someone blogs completely anonymously, I am sometimes turned off. I am following two people with no pictures and no names, and it is a bit of a turn off. Although Daisy blogs anonymously, I don’t feel she does because she calls herself Daisy. So, to me, she’s Daisy! Hi Daisy! But when I go on these other sights, I keep thinking, Who is this? I’d like to greet him/ her. I just type a comment and move on if I like the content, but I’m a little bothered by it. Can’t help it! I do think that if I were not self-employed, I’d be blogging anonymously. Actually, I wouldn’t be blogging at all because I was working too much and too tired! 😉
I definitely agree about bloggers needing a name, even if it’s an alias! It’s easier to build a relationship with a blogger if you can put the content to a name, alias or otherwise.
I am always torn about going back into anonymous blogging, mainly because I am living in Guatemala and people could mistake my open finances for a display of wealth and locate my house easily. At first I freaked out a little when SEO search was my full name, and I know a few people have googled me and found the blog, but I don’t talk about my blog to friends and family. If they find me this way, they can stay but they don’t have to fake interest if I tell them “you should check my blog”!
I recently became public with my blog, and you are right, people in the offline world don’t really care. I don’t think anyone that I’ve told still reads my blog.
The only thing I can’t decide though is that it’s all good blogging un-anonymously until something goes wrong, right? Nobody in your offline life cares about your blog, until you get a crazy stalker or something scary happens. But then again, even if you try to blog anonymously to avoid any craziness like that, a true stalker (I mean in the truest, criminal sense of the word) will probably be able to crack blog anonymity anyway, you know? It’s tough to make the anonymous/unanonymous decision for sure!!
Great post! I don’t blog anonymously for many of the same reasons you listed. I thought the one about people offline not caring particularly true — most of my friends, family and coworkers are wholly uninterested in my blog and have always been. I don’t know why that surprised me when I first started, I guess narcissistically we all assume we’re SUPER interesting and EVERYONE wants to know about us but the reality is no one cares.
I guess it comes down to the fact that people in our offline lives, at least those close to us, know us (or feel like they know us) so much better than those in our online lives. Or maybe they would just rather be doing something else than reading a blog. (Why would they ever want that?? :P)
Hi Daizy and Manda
I say I blog semi-anonymously. I have my picture up and use my first and middle name as my “pen name” – I’m not sure it would be really difficult to find me offline. Some of the stuff I blog about are pretty personal but I figured if I’m putting it online for all the world to see, I should probably be prepared for someone to connect the dots. So it’s there for people to find, if they’re so inclined.
You raise some great points for the pros of being public with your blog!Thanks
I think it is great to put your name to all your work. Another plus to putting a photo and your name to your work is that it adds credibility to your work
For a more business purpose, putting your name on a blog is a very big advantage. But for personal blogs, I would rather prefer maintain the anonymity of my identity.