coneblog

I’ve been writing a blog for about two years, now, and I recently found myself discussing why people blog, and what are some of the issues around blogging.

One of the first issues people confront when they set out to Blog is the issue of anonymity. Should you be anonymous as a writing persona, or should you reveal your personality. I originally sought to use my Blog as a promotional tool for my consulting practice, so I wanted to present my real identity. I quickly found that I enjoyed the writing in and of itself, and didn’t mind being identified to my readers.

Other than people that I already know, I have never met one of my readers face-to-face, so my blogging identity has not had a huge impact on my life. I am careful not to mention people, clients or situations by name, and don’t highlight my blogging persona in the work environment.

However, I can clearly see a number of situations where you would want to keep your identity a secret. If you dealt with controversial topics there might be personal security issues. I deal with nothing more controversial than approaches to IT project scope control.

For many though, the desire to dish about the absurd happenings in their workplace is balanced by the fear of being discovered or connected with such disclosures. If that is the reason you seek anonymity, ask yourself if you have more to say than merely to complain about your co-workers and workplace. Unless you have the wit of a Dilbert, you will need more than workplace gripes to sustain a Blog.

Anonymity should not detract from the interest or value of the Blog, as long as the author has provided enough information about themselves to enable the reader to put the writer in context.