In this post, I am discussing hiding your blog with a pseudonym… not your illegal downloading activities.
95% of my blogging friends disguise their blogs so people can’t figure out who they are by just looking at the blogs, nor can people Google them and find the blogs. People generally disguise their blogs because they think family & friends will judge them or that their boss will fire them. I hold the opposite point of view: sharing yourself online helps create more human connections even when people disagree with you or find your ideas distasteful.
Hiding your blog is wrong for 3 reasons:
- No one wants to read blogs that are bland or anonymous.
- Better ideas & theories are built by discussing your concepts, not stashing them away.
- Its cowardly. Stand behind your opinions or shut up.
So why do people hide their blogs in spite of these 3 strong points?
- Fear that their boss will see it and fire them
- Fear that their family will read it and disown them
- Fear that their friends will read it and not like them
- Fear that their future children will read it and behave badly
- Fear that what they have to say is stupid, trivial or wrong
The points can be answered easily: Even when people disagree with you, they are still getting to know you better. Most of the time when you know someone you care for them more its basic human nature. Anyways, if you go through life hiding & disguising who you are, what’s the point of living at all?
If your opinion is ignorant or silly or incorrect, why would you want to hold it any longer than you already have? Posting your theories, ideas and beliefs publicly opens them to examination by other intelligent people and may lead you to better understand the world. You can always go back to an old incorrect post and put a link at the top pointing to a new post on how your opinion has changed.
Three blogs that need to go public: