Should bloggers use their real names?
Posted on June 6, 2007
Filed Under General
From the second my bumper caved in the door of another vehicle, I knew I’d be sued. My first thought was relief that my auto insurance and a personal umbrella insurance would cover the damages. My second thought of was the realization that personal details of my life could be found on social websites such as myspace by anyone searching for my real name. Details such as where I went to school, where I hung out, and where I went on my last vacation were all exposed for public viewing. I’d never cared about my openness on the web until I realized there were some people out there, like this accident victim and his attorney, that I did not want to share my life with.
I have since changed the name on my profiles so that I won’t show up on name searches. I’ve also stopped using the same screen name for my frequently visited discussion boards (real estate, trading, personal finance, travel), so that someone searching on the screen name won’t be able to figure out my actions in these various arenas. I can’t afford to be an open book – literally.
I see plenty of blogs where the author uses his/her real name, photos, and offers a lot of personal financial information. My accident has taught me to keep some things under wraps. Maybe you should too.
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6 Responses to “Should bloggers use their real names?”
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I don’t think any readers care whether the person blogging uses a real name or not, as long as the content is good. I don’t see any advantage in revealing that private info, other than trying to appear cool.
Things like that will make you think twice about your online prescence. Whether a blogger uses his real name or not doesn’t affect the decision to read the blog or not, but I do feel more loyalty to a blog that seems to be authored by a real person with a real name.
this is funny! someone mentioned it to me that readers relate to those bloggers more who reveal something personal - like a picture or real name! my take is that as much as this is a nice thing to see someone real, you also run risks of getting exposed to unwanted elements! I agree with kidzip that if content is good, it shouldn’t matter who is writing it!
Interesting Observations
I think that it really depends on the content of the blog also. Sometimes you don’t want your coworkers to find your blog, especially if you complain about work on it.
However, at some point, if your blog is popular enough, people will find out who you are.
I think it’s easier to use my real name. If I didn’t, I may be more likely to say something I’d regret and it would only be a matter of time before my online personae was connected back to me, making all of my comments suddenly associated with me.
I’ve been contemplating that. My only fear is if I don’t, they won’t be able to find me for the Today Show interview!