The Pseudonymous Meme

By the talented jo(e)...

Is your blogging persona more serious than your real life persona? Nah. Trying to distinguish between my blogging persona and real life persona is pretty much useless. In my blog, I focus more on one aspect of my life (the ABD side) than I do on any other, but all the "sides" of me--the serious and the silly--are reflected in this blog.

Do you think the only safe way an academic can write publicly is to write anonymously? Generally speaking, no, as jo(e) indicated, any academic who does any type of scholarship writes publicly under her/his own name all the time. However, when academics (especially those without tenure) begin to write more about the issues of academe--what goes on behind closed doors--anonymity can offer a measure of protection.

Do you think that your blog could ruin your career? No--I refuse to believe that writing about my progress in my dissertation could ruin my career. That just seems silly to me. If I were to spend more time blogging than writing, then obviously that would detract from my goal of getting a PhD in a timely fashion, but I couldn't blame the blog itself or even someone's knowledge of the blog for the possible fall in my career goals. That seems silly to me.

Do you use a pseudonym out of fear? No--it is just an internet habit. I have been online since I was in high school and the first rule of chatting online was to always use an alias. As I've gotten older, I'm less worried about protecting my identity but I still don't want to make it blatantly easy for some weirdo to come knocking on my door. So fear, no--practical safety, yes.

What is the biggest drawback to writing pseudonymously? For me, there are no drawbacks. The way I write here isn't impacted a fear of being "outed" or something along those lines. I write with a particular focus because I started this blog with one purpose--to get through and record my dissertation. The biggest drawback for me comes from that goal--I sometimes feel like I'm getting off task if I don't write about my dissertation. Those issues of focus and purpose--for me--don't have anything to do with my "pseudonym."

Has anyone stumbled on your blog and found it accidentally? No. My blog is in my email signature so lots of sorors and friends come by to check it out. Sometimes I'm suprised when they send me an email responding to something I'm written, but I enjoy those moments.

Have you outed yourself to any other bloggers? Sure--quite a few people on my blogroll who share some personal or academic interest know my "real name." In some cases, they know more about me than I know about them--and I'm ok with that. Everyone has their own level of comfort with disclosing their identity online. Again, given that I've been online for so long, I have a pretty high level of comfort.

Has your blog allowed you to experiment with writing? Practice, sure. Experiment...not so sure.

Why do you use a pseudonym? I started this blog for me and gave the address to a few friends. So I picked a nickname that my friends actually call me. I didn't see it then as using a pseudonym--I was just writing under the name that I often answer to. And for me, it is funny to see how bloggers like abd me and Prof Me respond to and talk about "Mon" the SAME way my friends in "real life" do. So for me, the blogging Mon is pretty authentic.

I don't go through many--if any--hoops to hide who I am. Writing about very specialized things like my research and my sorority makes it very apparent who I am. But just like "real life" you either know me or you don't.