Why blog anonymously

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This is in response to Kev Quirk's blog post What about anonymous blogging? where he considers the motivations behind blogging anonymously.

I've been thinking recently about blogging anonymously. I'm not thinking about doing it, but wondering why folk might want to do it Kev Quirk

Kev's article struck a cord, and I felt I needed to articulate my thoughts.

This is a topic that I consider on the regular. I post under the pseudonym of Frills, here, on Mastodon, on the small web. I also have a 'professional' pseudonym which I use less and less these days. But I often wonder what my reasoning is behind the pretend name nickname, other than keeping people at arm's length.

Some damn good reasons to blog anonymously

  1. Personal safety. Internet strangers don't need to know your legal name to have fun and interact with you.
  2. Names change. Wouldn't it suck if you had built up a community using your full name, then get married and it changes. Do you keep your old name? But then what is the difference between that and a pseudonym?
  3. You don't like your name. You had no say in it unless you changed your name by deed poll. Choosing something that you feel better represents your personality is the joy of freedom on the internet. We can be whoever the heck we want to be, without the restraints of the physical world.
  4. Name discrimination and prejudice.
  5. Work-life balance.
  6. Mental wellbeing.

My personal reasons for blogging anonymously

I feel weird about using my full, legal name on the internet. I don't like the idea of being Google-able. If I Google myself, the first thing that comes up is my work profile, as that is pretty much the only place on the internet that has my full name.

A lot of the anxiety stems from the early days of the internet when your parents told you not to speak to strangers, or else you would get hacked or kidnapped or something else bad and scary.

I was a minor online, so my internet life began in a world of pseudonyms already - usernames for blogger, myspace, tumblr, gamer tags and character names for omgpop, World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Valorant. It's low-key an extension of that. I'm happy knowing someone online by just their pseudonym and assume the same courtesy from others.

As someone chronically online, I like to separate my online work life from my online play life.

I am much freer when I feel anonymous, not to say that someone with purpose couldn't find the breadcrumbs to my real name, but the feeling of being a character online gives me more creativity and ability to share my voice.

It also means that I can create and vocalise opinions without fear of employment repercussions or being considered unprofessional. Not that that is a likely risk, but the extra safety net is comforting.

Am I really that anonymous?

I have an online ecosystem using this pseudonym, so in a way, I don't really consider myself as being anonymous, rather that I just have an 'online name'.

I am super aware of not posting anything too personally identifying, and actively redact or police what I post online to maintain that sense of privacy, but I still share my general location, rough age, my job title, my hobbies and personal thoughts. It's just my legal name that is withheld, that an my WHOIS data.

This is not to say that it will always stay that way, that my privacy protection runs that deep, or that I won't leave breadcrumbs for the curious to find, but this is where my head is right now and seemingly has been for the last 10 to 15 years.

I guess old habits die hard.