Anonymous blogging or not?

[indigogirl66]

I'm new to blogging and have gone it at it anonymously and in secret from my family and friends. Some of it is fear - I'm not sure if I'm any good at it and fear that people I know will judge or laugh at me (?!). Partly it's because I just wanted to do it for myself to begin with - to get used to the idea of it before I share it with others. The anonymity goes along with that, but also I worry about stalkers and weirdo's and I want to keep my daughter safe! That's a reason why I don't link to my social media on my blog right now. Having said that, I post pics on instagram so I'm not really sure if you can ever really be anonymous in this digital age.

What do others think about this? I'd be interested to learn what influenced your decision either way, and how comfortable you are with your life being "out there".

[fcknits]

Depends what your blog is about and why you are running it. If it is business related, then I'm afraid you're out of luck: you must disclose some sort of contact information. If it's just a personal blog, then you can be as anonymous and secretive as you like.

Don't share too much - and certainly nothing that you'd be uncomfortable to have... your mom read. Stuff that someone could overhear you saying in the street is okay; too much personal information is OTT. However, stalkers (like most other 'personal' crime perpetrators) are most likely to be someone that you see or know in real life.

Don't be scared of friends/family seeing your blog! Believe in the quality of your writing. If you don't believe in yourself, who will? ;)

HTH x

[TheLondonMum]

I'm between the two I suppose. I give out my first name, but keep my surname private. My friends and family also don't know the link to my blog, as it's something I write for others and don't want criticism so close to home.
Most things I sign off as TheLondonMum- so I use my blog handle more than my name if i'm honest.
I refer to my other half as MrLondonMum and my child when he finally arrives will probably be Baby London.
My twitter account and pinterest are specific to my blog and I don't use my name on either.

I do find though that pics are essential to blogging and people don't like an anonymous face behind the writing.

Hope that helps! x

[katese11]

Most of my readers are people I know or people who know people I know, so you might find that being anonymous holds you back on growing a readership. My blog is fairly un-controversial, so I don't share any very deep feelings on it anyway and never anything that I don't want people to know about me or my kids. I don't have my surname on it or my twitter account, but my full name is dotted about the web from guest posting/writing for other sites so that's a bit pointless. I locked down my fbook a while back for a very specific reason, which made me panic about the blog a bit...but if you haven't upset any dangerous cults lately you probably don't need to do that...!

I do have a blog fbook page, but that's not for security reasons - it's just to ensure that a) I'm only sharing content with people who have opted in and b) that people who aren't my fbook friends can get updates on fbook

[katese11]

Oh but, re-reading your OP, it is good to get a blog established before you share it. I think I wrote 10-ish posts before I spammed it about, just to make sure there was content for people to read when they clicked on the link!

[ButThereAgain]

I can certainly understand lots of reasons for staying anonymous, and it is very frightening to be otherwise, but I do think that ultimately staying anonymous stops you from writing as seriously and maturely as you can. Eventually you have to put your real self on the line (and online). I used to think that the anonymous online self (that we have in places like MN) was a real one something deep and true but now I think that it tends to be escapist and over-confident in its sweeping playful words.

Writing in my real name makes me more cautious, more respectful of others' views. That can be a bit paralysing -- sometimes you feel you can't say anything because nothing is going to be quite right. So it is good to escape into anonymity sometimes, to get the words flowing. But eventually it is good to commit to writing that you are prepared to own in public.

[Elsiequadrille]

Mine is anonymous, as I think we're identifiable even using first names, especially coupled with other details. I use false names and am careful not to mention any identifying details.

I also make some posts privately (those detailing birthdays etc). But the difference is that I am not anonymous from family and they regularly read, including the private posts.

[Meerkat10]

Hello, I'm an anonymous blogger, mainly because the content of my blog is... inapproriate for my mum to be reading with her morning latte. But I'm finding it very liberating, I can absolutely be myself by not editing that because of so-and-so and better-not-put-that-in because...

Do it!

You say: "I'm not sure if I'm any good at it and fear that people I know will judge or laugh at me" I'm sure that's not true, but writing is cathartic and hopefully you will gain the confidence you need to shout about it loud and proud.

Good luck!

[babybouncer]

I blog anonymously because I'm a teacher at a secondary school and I don't want students googling me and finding it but also because it is against the policy of the school. But, I think it is best not to appear anonymous - using first names seems much more honest and trustworthy where possible.

A couple of close friends follow my blog and DH but most followers have found me through twitter (under my pseudonym) or other links and I find this much easier as I write about my life and worry that the people in my life would dislike/misunderstand my perspective. For example, DH one of my posts talks about how I found myself buying him underwear and he didn't like the idea that readers might think he was incapable of looking after himself.

How much you show your kids depends on their age - I show photos taken from behind, or the side, or partly obscured by food etc. My kids are 1 and 4 and I have given them nicknames (Quibble and Squeak) and if I'm still doing this when they're teenagers I'll try to not refer to them without their permission and not show photos.

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