Lately, there has been quite a bit of blogging, both
here and
elsewhere, about privacy matters in blogs, specifically the unmasking of "anonymous" bloggers and commenters. As someone who soon will lose his blogging anonymity (blogonymity?) as a result of my own statements and actions, I've been giving this quite a bit of thought. So, I'd like to share my thoughts and respectfully solicit yours.
When I first started my blog, Blast Off!, I jealously guarded my privacy, for reasons I will explain below. After being away from my blog, and here, for two years, I've returned as a more mature blogger, and today I'm far less concerned about being "outed" as a liberal blogger than I was in the past.
But is it maturity - or naivete? Please join me below the fold.
In 2004, when I started
Blast Off!, I'd already been an active participant on Daily Kos and elsewhere for over a year. Blogging came naturally for me, having been motivated by my work on the Howard Dean campaign in Michigan then, after his elimination from the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, having moved to an ultra-conservative county in Florida. I started my own blog as a way to battle back against the rampant neo-conservatism that pervaded my life there, from the media to my own job. Indeed, it was my job that caused me to be so concerned about my blogonymity.
I worked at a community college whose board of trustees, like all the college and university boards in Florida, was comprised of political appointees made by Governor Bush. As a result, they were almost uniformly right-wing, and the people they hired to run the college likewise tended to be ultra-conservative.
Long story slightly shorter: when it was discovered by certain members of the Board that I had worked for Dr. Dean, the wife of a Board member called my supervisor, the college president (who, naturally, reported to the Board), all but insisting that I could not be employed at the college based solely on my political views. To his credit, the president, a self-described moderate Republican, explained that I was there to stay and that it would not be possible to fire/un-hire me for political reasons. But the die was cast: my tenure at that college, and indeed my life in that county, was influenced strongly by the constant tension between my political beliefs and activism versus the assumption - nay, expectation - that everyone in the groups in which I circulated was a Republican, and it finally became so oppressive that I had to leave.
Now, I have moved elsewhere in Florida, to a bluer county (Palm Beach), and my politics are not considered so radical. However, because of my own statements regarding my upcoming appearances on the TV game show Jeopardy!, soon everyone, or more accurately anyone who wants to know, will be able to identify me.
I know this is my own responsibility, and I accept that, because I feel that I no longer need to hide my beliefs behind the veil of anonymity. Indeed, my television appearances may bring me some notoriety, at least locally. However, I still believe, for whatever naive reason, in the better nature of humankind, and I don't expect any adverse consequences from having my identity revealed.
Should I be concerned? There are a few reasons why I think not.
First, anyone who truly wanted to identify me probably could through other means, with a modicum of effort. Jeopardy! may make it easier, but it's probably not all that hard as it is now. Second, so many prominent bloggers on both sides of the ideological fence are known today that it is no longer unusual to be "out." In addition, I'm not in a threatening situation at work if my identity were known, nor do I anticipate any serious repercussions in my life. And finally, like all such things, this too shall pass - to paraphrase Lincoln, people will little note nor long remember who I am, and it's not going to matter in the long run.
This differs, of course, from most of the situations that have been discussed to date, in that I'm largely responsible for my own outing, rather than someone else doing it for whatever reason, good or bad. But, after truly examining it in my own head and my own heart, I've come to the conclusion that anonymity truly is in the eye of the beholder. Am I deluding myself, or is it simply a matter of personal preference?