PrintDo you share your real identity on your blog? Why or why not?
I’m a relatively new blogger living in a city whose average age of residents is 76. The most happenin’ place in town is the early bird happy hour at Bob Evans - their menu is popular because it consists of very soft, easy to gum foods like mashed potatoes and pureed Viagra. Not much happening here in this town, and I’ve lost some of my big city edginess and guard. I’ll admit that I’m pretty naive to this whole blogging world.
I just have some questions for you veterans, because you know, I don’t want to do anything stupid to jeopardize like the rest of my life or anything.
Why do most bloggers not show real identities or real photos? I’ve seen sites with nicknames, initials, lips, cartoon characters. It just seems silly to me to call my husband “S’ or my kids, “Thing #1 and #2.” I’m not a known felon, nor am I in any witness protection program. I haven’t been an employee for a company in over 10 years, so I’m not afraid of pissing anyone off.
Is there some massive blogger identity theft ring that I should know about? Should I put the black bar over my eyes like in the back page of fashion magazines where they show the FASHION DON’TS??! I swear I don’t wear daisy dukes with hooker heels….only with my CFM boots.
Maybe its the other way around. Maybe bloggers don’t want their friends and families snoopin’ around their blogs, because then you can’t say stuff like, “My sister is a slut who would sleep with donkey ass for attention” (just kidding. I don’t have a sister.)
Or MAYBE, just maybe having my real name and photo just makes me a prime target for sites like www.shemalesxxx.com
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20 Comments:
As my LunaPierCook blog is actually part of our local newspaper, we're required to have our name and photo on our About page (and for the record, here's mine). A lot of folks have resisted for one reason or another, but they're not going to be able to much longer.
There are justifiable fears for not doing this for most people, especially the ladies. Too many unsavory people having access to all that's online, have simply caused too many problems. Geezers convincing teenage girls to meet them somewhere is enough of a problem that I seriously monitor what my kids do when they're with me. I have the computers in our house locked down pretty darn hard in my own ongoing effort to prevent that kind of thing from happening with my kids.
Back on February 1st, Pauley Perrette (Abby on "NCIS") had to stop writing her blog because she had "... been threatened by someone who will not leave me alone and obsessively tracks my blog for information on me". It's not just people who are in the public eye that this kind of thing happens to. If someone becomes obsessed with you, regardless of who you are, look out.
It becomes your own call. How well do you feel you can protect yourself if something like this were to happen to you? Are you worried about it at all, or are you like, "Eh, whatever, I doubt it can ever happen to me"? You have to weigh all your options, including where you live, who your readers are, etc. Only you can provide this answer.
LunaPierCook at 8:27AM on 05/11/07
i don't divulge my identity. i am guilty of using pseudonyms and calling people by their first initial on my blog. i guess i do it because i just dont need my parents reading about my drinking habits. although if anyone knows me really well, they'll know what to google in order to find my blog.
people like the chick from dooce.com have talked at length about "blog etiquette"... she has a whole section on her site devoted to being outed due to her blog, if you want to check that out.
french tart at 8:45AM on 05/11/07
I use my real name (it's my URL), and a real photo too. But I am careful about what I write. When I use names, it's typically first names only, and when I write about work it's fairly innocuous stories with no names at all. Wouldn't be hard to figure out who I was talking about in many of those stories, but not using others' names does give them a tiny bit of anonymity against casual browsers.
DonNunn at 9:00AM on 05/11/07
I'm not a wannabe restaurant critic nor feel the need to hide my identity for any reason. And everything I write must pass my "mom & dad" test (who read my blog regularly).
If I can't say it to them then I don't write about it.
Of course I respect the privacy of others and always ask if I can post photos and names if I discuss someone or do an interview.
mattbites at 9:23AM on 05/11/07
Yeah, you're right Matt. Its just weird that I'm getting referrals from sex sites! That just creeps me out. but who know, transvestites are foodies too.
-Steamy Kitchen
www.steamykitchen.com
Steamy Kitchen at 9:34AM on 05/11/07
Nothing's funnier than ageist comments. Sheesh.
BaHa at 10:44AM on 05/11/07
I use my real name and photos of myself, but I'm careful about what I write. I NEVER write about my job except in the most general terms - "I had a long day at work" or "I know this isn't the job I want to have when I retire, so I'm thinking about what my next adventure might be" is as far as I'll go. When I was in Human Resources I worked on the case of a woman who got fired for writing inapropriate comments about co-workers and clients.
Sometimes I do worry about the safety issue. A few years ago there was an article about me in a newspaper, and I got a few phone calls from strangers. None of them were threatening, but they could have been.
-Lynne
www.hundredthings.com
www.hundredthings.com at 11:09AM on 05/11/07
When I started Slice, I briefly used a pseudonym—I wasn't sure I wanted to "live out loud" on the web. After a month or so, I switched to using my real name and posting an author bio page with photo. Since I'm always curious about the people behind the sites I frequent, I thought I owed the same to my readers. And I also felt like having my own name on it would hold me more accountable for what I wrote.
That said, I guess it depends on what you write about. If I wrote about more personal issues and/or relationships with my girlfriend or friends, I'd probably use a pseudonym and hope they never found my blog. But I write mostly about pizza and burgers, and who's gonna get worked up about that?
@MattBites: I too have a "mom and dad" test, since my parents, aunts, uncles, and (occasionally) grandmother read the site. It's also another level of self-editing that keeps what I talk about on focus. (I also have a "what would future employers think?" test--since your future boss is probably going to Google you at some point.)
Adam Kuban at 11:43AM on 05/11/07
I use a pseudonym, even if is very simple to find my real name...
Why? At the beginning it was because I didn't want my clients (I had a catering company) to know about my blog (it is about what I eat at home, so not really catering wise). At the moment, I don't own any more a catering and I don't have any problem to share my real name (Sara Maternini), but my pseudonym is much easier to say: even Italians have problems to understand my surname!!!
I've never thought of a "parental guidance" of what I write, mainly because my parents don't go on the internet, don't speak English and have problems to understand what a blog is... Every time I show it to them, they marvel about the pictures and that's it...
And at the end, I found my actual job thanks to the fact that my boss was a regular reader of my blog and we share the same view on food, so...
As long as you say what you really think and you share your real point of view I don't think the name is what matters...
Sara - Piperita at 12:05PM on 05/11/07
That’s an interesting question . . . and one I had to think about for a while before “diving in.”
For you “kids” on this forum (a WONDERFUL forum, by the way), the consideration on whether or not to use your “real” name may be a wee bit less complex than for an old guy (65 on May 19th) like myself.
I am a crusty old retired “professor” who is used to being coddled and to having my “own way”, so to speak. Therefore I am often accused of being brusque … rude … and opinionated.
Hell, I have been kicked off that redneck website Roadfood.com, not once, but TWICE (those semi-literates simply can’t handle an academic conversation!).
My wife is MUCH younger than I, and is a medical professional. She would probably kill me (literally) if I used my REAL name.
On the other hand, anyone who would really be interested could pretty easily figure it out with a little “Google” expertise.
Point is, I love your website . . . I love reading you guy’s opinions and comments . . . I love sparring with you on occasion . . . and I love the internet.
DocChuck
DocChuck at 1:55PM on 05/11/07
I can think of two reasons:
a) a pseudonym allows for freer expression
b) don't want their employer/parents/partner/children to find out
I will tell you that when I am interviewing people for jobs I do google them and what I find out from their blog or other data does affect if I would hire that person or not (but its usually not the only reason)
shea at 1:59PM on 05/11/07
I've shared my real identity on the Internet for the past 7 years, probably because when I was little I didn't think much about the "don't give you real name to anyone on the interwebs" advice (I've never had any stalkers, woo). However, I don't really have anything to hide. I've rarely said bad things about people, nor do I think I've written anything that would make me look very bad to the eyes of potential employers. (If they found reason to not hire me based on something I wrote in my blog, I wouldn't want to work for them anyway.) When friends don't want me to post their name online they tell me, but it's rare.
So...depending on what you plan on writing (nothing that will result in a gazillion people hating you), I don't think using your real ID on the net will put your life in jeopardy. :)
roboppy at 3:16PM on 05/11/07
Been blogging since 2000 and always have used a pseudonym. Many reasons including:
1. freer expression
2. not wanting work related people finding it
3. things are on the internet FOREVER and you never know who is Googling you or where your future will take you
4. friend Googled another friend and found some very, um, things you wouldn't want to know about your friend posted all over the internet under his real name
5. just safer
I've had business sites where of course I used my real name and information, including one that still is up and running. I just figure that if I want to write about anything, I should only be sharing with complete strangers. Makes a lot of sense, right? ;)
FKC at 3:30PM on 05/11/07
I'd never reveal anything about myself--too dangerous!
amateurgourmet at 3:30PM on 05/11/07
I been postng to forums and blogs since 2003. I have always been Jerzee tomato. Anyone who knows me in real life knows that is the best way to convey who I am. I hope ,as do most people who enjoy speaking with our peers in an online forum, to listen and to respond and to become a member of this fine assemblance of foodies.
There are not many places where I feel I fit in. But I feel comfortable here.
I like Ed and his cohorts and am glad that I was invited to join this blog.
Another reason I do not use my real name, I use real life stories when I convey kitchen disasters. People who knew I told these stories to other people would be quite peeved.
JerzeeTomato at 11:03PM on 05/11/07
On my blogs, I recently started using my real name. To protect THEIR privacy, I do not use my husband's, friends', and family members' names or any details they do not wish divulged.
Because I've been a professional writer for many years, it's easy to find information about me on the internet (various jobs, bios, interviews, etc.). In some cases, I've hoped that friends I've lost touch with over the years would use Google to look me up (because I've tried looking them up to no avail).
But, as far as the blog goes, I don't mind giving out my name anymore. I think it makes me just a little bit more approachable.
hereandthe at 8:06AM on 05/12/07
When I first moved to SF, I had a guy come up to me and say "Oh hey, you're Kitchenbeard!"
"ummm. yeah, have we met?"
"Oh no... you're just ojne a friend of a friend's buddylist."
It creeped me out sufficiently that I immediately went back and got rid of a lot private stuff on my blog and began seriously filtering what I talked about. That being said, I put my face on it all the time and assume I'll eventually get recognized again.
kitchenbea at 10:09PM on 05/12/07
I've never believed in pseudonyms. I've always been who I am online, be it from the old USENET days thru my early posts on Chowhound and thru the creation of eGullet and Off The Broiler. I tend to take people a lot less seriously unless they put their real name behind their words.
jperlow at 1:40PM on 05/13/07
I don't have a blog per se...but on this & other forums I have always used my first name - which ironically people thought was not my real name (which is Mary). Now I just use the beginning of my full name....m for mary, e for elizabeth, and the first few letters of my last name. I guess I never worried about anyone gaining too much info, because the info is out there anyway...somewhere in the cyber world. I've never felt that anything I've written (or will write if I ever have a real blog) is something I wouldn't share with anyone. I am who I am...take it or leave it!
As far as strangers recognizing you out in the 'real' world...well...that's happened to me offline...I've had people come up to me & introduce themselves because they were a friend of a friend...etc....so it can happen online or off.
Just be true to yourself.
mepolo at 2:17PM on 05/14/07
I share a great deal on my myspace page - and I sometimes pay the price for it. However, lunatics aside, I refuse to change the way I live my life because if I do, they win. And that's unacceptable.
therealchiffonade at 8:32PM on 10/08/07