Blogging anonymously...

Kev Quirk triggered an interesting thought sharing experiment asking the question:

Have you ever thought about blogging anonymously? I blog under my real name, but wonder if that could have held me back...

https://kevquirk.com/what-about-anonymous-blogging

Some thoughtful responses came about:

Frills writes:

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.

https://frills.dev/blog/240411-anon/

fLamed writes:

I don’t use my online presence to grow or promote my career. I have no reputation or brand to build, so I’m happy being fLaMEd around the Small Web and associated communities. I have had and go by other names across other communities, but this is my primary identity for being online.

https://flamedfury.com/posts/blogging-anonymously/

I started writing online pseudonymously using a name only friends knew. I'd briefly tied my real name to the blog but quickly revisited the decision as it did feel like I couldn't share thoughts freely. To be clear, that is a one way door and with enough online sleuthing, one can tie my real identity back to me. However, I prefer being known online by my pseudonym - gurupanguji.

However, I must admit that it was work that initiated this self censorship. It's ironic because I was thrilled to join my workplace back in 2012 because of its open, free, transparent nature.

I personally do associate that even a couple levels of indirection from your real identity makes it feel safer to share your thoughts, even if in reality, there's not much of a difference.

However, to me, the biggest part of it all was the clarity required for why I write: was it for other people or for myself? The truth is that it look midlife clarity to articulate it: it's for myself.

Being pseudonymous helps me stay true for that purpose. It's not to build clout, it's not to build fame, it's not to play the hedonic game. This is my avenue to creative output. It likely won't mean much to most people and being pseudonymous keeps reminding me that I do this for myself.