But I believe in always giving the same pseudonym so yeah it’s some kind of second persona for me. The way where I don’t have to think about anyone judging me.
Great post, Sarah!

I’ve had experience with stalkers (ex-partner, ex-employer), and things got ugly enough – I do not want people like that to be able to easily follow me _everywhere_.

And I think there’s something neat about people who respond to me not being able to automatically make assumptions about me.

Hey, if I could teach under a pseudonym and be “myself” on line, I’d love to! It just doesn’t work that way.

Which, if I was someone who ever posted at his blog or emailed him in confidence, would scare the living shit out of me. And it does, because I have.

I’ve made it clear anonymous posters are at risk of being mocked and non-specifically-identifying material about them may be revealed (like that their IP is coming from a particular institution or country). I only *ever* get anonymous posters when they want to be vicious, so I don’t have any conscience about exposing them sufficiently to make them squirm (but not to allow them to be harrassed). But if someone posted because they were scared of retribution, but were not trolling, then I’d respect that.

Pseuds have to be respected. We’re in a business where they are common currency, and while ‘Ann Somerville’ is not my real name, I never post under any other, and have taken my lumps for my views expressed under my pen name. That’s more than enough to satisfy honour.

I don’t know if the anonymous function should be dropped, but people should be more responsible about using it. However, since a lot of people aren’t responsible, I wouldn’t be surprised if it went the way of the Dodo. The anonymous function, like the words ‘I’m just telling it like it is,’ seems to let people feel they have the right to be jerks. People should be polite and respectful at all times, even if no one knows who they are; however, some people seem to be incapable of that.

Yeah, gonna keep the pseudonym.

G.

Totally agree.
It doesn’t.

I once had a ‘anonymous’ guy harass me.
This charming fellow was in I.T. and thought he was being clever.
A hacker buddy of mine easily tracked him down
and ‘persuaded’ him to leave me alone.

Another time, a dentist tried to hold my dental records hostage (thought I should pay for a copy of them).
Another buddy retrieved them within minutes (and has called me metal mouth ever since).

This is no real privacy.
All your information can be retrieved.

Your best defense is to be a nice person
and not make it easy for people.

I do think that people who use a pseudonym consistently are “owning” their posts/opinions, but anonymous posters may or may not be. Personally, I don’t give as much weight to anonymous posts because they are so often used to bash other posters and the person isn’t willing to sign his/her name/pseudonym. This especially goes for people who claim to be “experts” in their anonymous comments.

But there are some situations where I can see why someone would post anonymously with a legitimate purpose. One example is when there is some kind of scandal/kerfuffle/etc. going on and an author wants to voice an opinion on the subject. It may not be a smart business decision for her to post under her real/pen name, but that doesn’t necessarily make what she’s saying any less worthy.

Bottom line: I think with most “anonymous” posts, a savvy reader can tell by the content/tone of the comment how much credibility to lend the poster.

However, I don’t want the casual searcher (e.g. my students) to have access to that much information about my personal life.

With that said, I’m a college professor who teaches at least part of my course load online, and my husband is active duty military in a sensitive leadership position. I don’t care for a quick “Google search” of my name to reveal all of my personal interests, political affiliations, religious beliefs, and pastimes to my students and colleagues. I do use my real name to conduct online activities related to my field, but that’s more about networking and resume-building.

I DO have trusted friends and colleagues in the real world, however, who know my pseudonym, so I’m still technically “accountable” for anything I say or do under that name. Communicating under a pseudonym allows me to discuss issues honestly in ways that won’t impede my professional goals or ambitions.