When I started blogging, there was no question I’d use my own name. I was a journalist, I was returning to work after time off to raise my family and creating a blog what part of re-establishing my solo writing business – I wanted the world to know I was back.
No so with a blogger I’ll identify as “K,” who blogs at Once Bitten as Sookie Stackhouse, the telepathic barmaid heroine of Charlaine Harris’ Southern vampire mystery series played by Anna Paquin in the hit vampire series “True Blood.”
Or Jay, aka, “Mena Grazie,” a blogger who runs an online newspaper for vampires and other paranormal fictional characters called The Preternatural Post.
Or Kathy Murray Lynch, a writer and author who blogs at That China Girl in the voice of Taya H., the main character of her novel in progress.
I never knew so many people didn’t blog as themselves until the 2011 Blogathon. When I roamed through the 200+ bloggers who’d signed up, I noticed a number who used a first name only, pseudonym or the name of a fictional character.
Call Me Anonymous
Out of curiosity, I asked this year’s blogathon participants why they did or didn’t blog as themselves. Based on what they shared, it boils down to the reason they’re blogging in the first place:
- People use their own name if they’re journalists, freelancers or other types of writers or are blogging to build a brand or a name for themselves because they’re working on a book or other project.
- If the nature of what they write about is more personal, they don’t.
- If they’re using a blog as a living lab to experiment with a character for a work of fiction or something else they’re pursuing, they blog as that person.
- If they’re running a company blog, they don’t put a name on posts at all or use the CEO’s name.
In Their Own Words
Here’s what bloggers said about identifying or not identifying themselves on their blogs:
It’s a fiction writing warm up – “The sole purpose of the blog is to feed my fiction, provide character development, do research and play with ideas. I got so much out of the blogathon last year, that I wanted to see if having daily deadlines and readers to bounce ideas off of, could generate the same energy in my fiction. The short answer: It has. On a lot of days my posts have served as a great warm-up for my writing sessions. I think people’s answers reflect just how much blogs have changed over the years, going from the very personal to the very – impersonal isn’t the word – public, more like newsletters, or mini publications. At least that’s how I look at what I do.” – ” Kathy Murray Lynch, That China Girl
I want to own what I say – “Our blog centers around our mother-daughter relationship and us as authors (of) Depression Cookies. I still think it is very important for us to be genuinely exposed, shall we say. I want our readers to know (us) as authors, writers, parents, friends, women. But, to go one step farther, I would want to always blog under my name. I want to ‘own’ something I say.” – Tia Bach, Depression Cookies
First name basis – “I used to blog completely anonymously, but I felt silly about it. Now I use my first name only. It’s not a big deal to me exactly, and most people in my day-to-day life are aware of my blog. But I’m a substitute teacher and a touch of anonymity seems prudent since I do swear sometimes. Then again, my last name is extremely common, so maybe I I’m worrying over nothing.” – Tara P., Two Hands and a Road Map
My blog, my brand – “My blog is all me, all the time, because I’m all about the Reel Life With Jane brand. There are tons of entertainment sites out there, but only one me, so that’s what I push 24/7.” – Jane Boursaw, Reel Life With Jane
More in Their Own Words
Better known than my real name – “I blog under a pseudonym simply because when I started the blog, I was working in a field where doing a paranormal/vampire/gaming blog would not have been acceptable. I’ve been trying to transition to working in the horror/gaming/technology/paranormal genre and there ‘Mena’ is actually better known than my real name. In an effort to unite my ‘personalities’ I have recently begun listing the Post on my ‘real’ resume and the ‘real’ me is listed as the publisher of the Post on the About page.” – JC Hammond aka “Mena Grazie,” The Preternatural Post
From ‘terrified’ to ‘no apologies’ – “This is something I wrestled with when beginning a blog. I was pretty terrified to blog in general, because I knew ladymoxie would be a blog in my voice, uncensored. I have a lot of conservative family, some who think I wasted my education by even creating my blog, but I don’t take it personally. Blogging in my own identity allowed me to further the journey of completely being myself and having my own opinions, no matter what others think. Now I include my blog as part of my portfolio because it shows my style, voice, and sassiness – no apologies for who I am or how I write. The blog has lead to work, which reinforces my goal to be an honest voice.” – Alison Preston, Ladymoxie
Mistake to have separate personas – “Since I’m not a secret agent I have no reason to hide who I am. My blog represents one facet of me and is filled with my opinions. I mention it on Twitter and Facebook and try to tie it all together. I made the mistake early on in my social media life of having separate personnas. Some – such as my primary AOL screen name, my Yahoo name and my Skype name – I cannot change and have too many people I’m connected to on those services. I wish they would let one make a one-time change so I could bring those names in line with the rest of my online persona.” – Peter Weissenstein, Join Me for a Cuppa
Anonymous to protect the kids – “I have been blogging since 2004 and my children were all very young back then. My blog was originally about my adventures in homeschooling and I wanted to keep the protection of semi-anonymity for the sake of my little ones. Over the years, I’ve add several different blogs for several different purposes and still kept using only my first name. But now, with 4 of my children adults and 2 more teenagers and the younger 2 getting close to teen years, I no longer feel the need for complete anonymity.” – Kate M., Teaching What is Good
What about you, do you blog as you or someone else, and why?
I take jabs at a lot of tech pundits, CEOs and general talking heads in the industry. I can be sometimes vulgar, often logical and and I’ve had several other writers try to come after me on their own sites as a result of it. I’m fine with that – if I hold them responsible for their words, it’s only fair they do the same to me.
My feeling is I own what I write. If I hid behind a pen name (which is fine for some, but not for me), I’d feel like a coward anonymously taking on people who put their names out there and say controversial (and often incompetent) things. I am my words, plain and simple.
I take responsibility for my words. If I offend or
The more your real identity is out there, the easier it is to steal it — especially today when a hacker can steal it with such ease and speed. I also sometimes write about travels I take or personal things that could tip someone off that I’m not home, etc.
I also had a case of a sibling being stalked by a psychotic ex who threatened to kill everyone in the family — including the cat! So, for me, writing under a pen name equals an extra layer of safety.
Plus, it’s just cooler than my real name. 😉
I could see where in certain circumstances using one’s name could be dangerous, but that’s always been the case for reporters who put their bylines on their work. Even so, after many years in the business I’ve never received threats and my byline’s out there for the world to see.
Michelle
That’s how I’ve always looked at it too, which is why I was surprised that not everyone felt the same. I think it might have to do with working as a professional journalist v. approaching a blog as a hobby or more personal endeavor.
Michelle
I had never thought of this before- I have always chosen not to use my ‘real’ name in my blogs. I started the blog bhulbhulaiyan – it was, at first, just to chronicle my overland trip from India to England…I was getting older and wanted to have one place where at least a few snippets of that memory were intact. I had not expected anyone to visit the blog- it was more just for me- and I decided to use the name “Anjuli” from the book The Far Pavilions- since my adventure started in India :)…as the blog came to the end of the journey- I had picked up readers and they wanted me to continue with the rest of my travels and experiences and I just continued to write under my chosen name “Anjuli”
In actual fact, I think almost all my readers do know my real full name- and I have met some of them in person- and others I’ve had contact with other than just via the blog- such as emails and regular letters.
Most of the people in my daily life know about my blog and do visit it. So I guess in my case- my choice of using an alternate name is just an old habit.
Thanks for sharing, it is interesting to hear about people’s decision-making process and why they did or didn’t choose to use their own name.
Michelle
I used a pen name, but it is a writer/reader blog. If I ever get published, that’s the name I want to use.
Michelle, I did not marry until I was 29. So much of my identity was in the name McDowell that I changed my name from Barbara Sprunger McDowell to Barbara McDowell Whitt soon after I was married. When I told a woman at the driver’s license bureau I wanted to do so, she argued and argued with me, saying, “You can’t do that.” (She wanted me to be Barbara Sprunger Whitt.) I was determined that I wasn’t going to leave until she agreed to let me be Barbara McDowell Whitt and finally she relented. Fortunately my new name was not a problem for a Social Security agent.
I’m glad I have used my full name with my blog. I want people who know me as Barbara McDowell to be able to find me.
I too used my given name as my byline for years, even after I married and legally changed my last name. I liked having an identity that was separate from my private life, especially once I had kids. Then my brother married a woman with my same first name, and around the same time I left the newspaper where I’d worked for a long time to freelance. It was a logical time to switch to using my married last name as my byline, though I added my maiden name as my middle initial, something I still use today. And on places like this blog and LinkedIn I use both last names for the sake of people who knew me way back when.
Michelle
I write under my AuthorName because all my blogging is writing/book related, so that is the name everyone knows me as. Also, everything I write is either 1) controversial 2) would give my mom a heart attack or 3) both.
Love it.
M
I have two blogs, one for my business Room To Breathe, which has office organizing tips for those of us with “oooh shiny minds,” and my personal blog which I write under my own name.
The business blog lists me as a contributor. I’ve set it up so I can invite others to guest post. While I do have a certain writing style, I want the readers of the organizing blog (Top of the Pile.info) to understand it may not be me writing all of the time. After all, there is no way one person can possibly know all the geeky organizing stuff in the world!
On my personal blog, yup, that’s me, and my name along with me and my opinions.
Jessica Chapman, Founder & Creator
http://roomtobreathe.org
http://9minutestoanorganizedoffice.com
Great idea to set up your blog that way; I’ve recently started running guests posts on a regular basis, and while my website designer has added a WordPress widget that’s supposed to override my byline on days when I have guest posters it doesn’t always work.
Michelle
I think I originally didn’t use my name in my blog because as a news reporter in my “day” job, our newspaper allows comments after our articles. People who obviously live in my community or close by would make some hateful and even sometimes scary comments occasionally online because they could do so anonymously. I found that to be a bit unnerving because a)I was just covering an event – it wasn’t my personal opinion and b)my name is in the phone book – it’s quite easy to find me. So when I created my first blog and intended to give my personal opinion, I naturally was concerned to put my real name on it. Our online newspaper is proof that there’s some crazy people in this world! My experience so far with blogging is that my concerns have been unwarranted!
I don’t know what it is about newspaper websites, but they seem to attract some of the harshest, meanest, craziest comments out there; I could understand given the situation not wanting to share your real name on a blog.
Michelle
As an aspiring writer, I read this article with a great deal of interest because it’s a subject I’ve been thinking about lately. While I’m still considering, I have decided to adopt a pseudonym for my WIP (hopefully, there will be more to follow), and I think it makes sense for me to blog under that pseudonym to build an identity across media. Plus, while my writing may not give my mother a heart attack, it’s highly possible having my real name attached to it just might do it.