Why This Blog Is Anonymous

Anonymity on the web is an amazing thing, especially for those of us with touches of social anxiety.

There is liberty in approaching the world as if it were a masquerade ball; I get to choose which individuals (if any) are allowed to peak behind the mask.

If I look a bit foolish, I don’t have to worry if it will cost me clients, make my brother lose a national security clearance, or embarrass future generations of family. My publicized mistakes and half-baked ideas wont bring the tsk-tsks of neighbors and in-laws, and I don’t have to cringe about what might turn up in an internet archive search of my name, 10 years from now.

Other people have their own reasons for wanting and needing to be anonymous, including political, legal, and even criminal reasons… but me? It’s all about the freedom: my own freedom of expression, and the freedom of readers to judge what I write, rather than who I am.

But there are drawbacks, even to the pseudo-anonymity of this blog.

• I’ll never be as credible as those writers who reveal their identity and put their every day reputations on the line.
• Some people view feel that anonymity reveals a lack of confidence and commitment to my viewpoints. (and they’re probably right)
• Since I’ve used different psuedonyms for different projects (at least four, that I can think of) clients and fans won’t cross over between projects.
• My ego suffers a bit… just as I’m protected from personalized criticism, I’m protected from personalized praise.
• When I’m asked “What DO you do on that computer all day?” the only answer I can give is that “I do freelance web design, and sorry, most of it is under a confidentiality clause.” It’s a bit awkward, and leads to frequent speculation that I’m spending way too much time surfing for porn.

But for me, the cost is worth it. The freedom from self-censorship is a mind-tweak that I won’t sacrifice for money, credibility or praise.
I still have a nagging question about psuedonyms - Which is taken more seriously? Those that are obviously nicknames (CreativeNeurosis) initials (CN) or realistic names (Charles Nichols)? Which do you relate better to?

Update: After undergoing intense & imaginary therapy, I’m slowly overcoming my anonymity addiction. Since some time in 2008, there’s been an almost-real name on the byline, and there are rumors of my photo floating around as an avatar here and there. Miracles do happen.