Science, meet World
To be or not to be a pseudonymous blogger
Editor’s Note: As a follow up to Scicurious’ excellent post on how to start a science blog, today Sci discusses the pros and cons of authoring a blog under a pseudonym. As one of the most recognizable pseudonymous science bloggers, Sci knows a thing or two about the topic. And take it from me – Sci takes her pseudonymity very seriously. When we met at a conference last year, she continued to go by Scicurious. To this day, I have not the slightest clue what her real name might be. I certainly would have slipped up by now.
Sci has a pseudonym, and while it’s fine sometimes with other bloggers, many real life people discount me because they think I am “anonymous” and cannot be serious. Keep in mind that pseudonymity and anonymity are different things. While anyone can be “anonymous” and their voices will change all the time, a pseudonym is a fake name that is constant through time as one or more specific people with specific voices. This means that you can, over time and with quality work, build up the trust of people who read you, and develop a reputation online as your pseudonym.
There are often good reasons for being a pseud. Many people assume that those writing under a pseudonym must be cowards, trolls, or otherwise untrustworthy. While this is true for some pseuds, not all pseudonyms are equal, and with time you can recognize those who work to build up reputations under their pseudonym. The reality is that there are lots of good reasons to be pseudonymous, from worries about people not taking you seriously, to professional considerations. Sci is a pseud because I don’t want animal rights activists coming after the real life work I do, not to mention the work of my colleagues, just because I’m supportive of carefully performed animal research (yes, I’ve gotten death threats, and I’m by no means the only one).
But being a pseud is hard. Most who come across you will treat you with distrust initially. It also means I can’t take credit for the awesome stuff I’ve done. So when Sci wins awards, my in-real-life alter ego does not. So blogging in your real name, especially if you are hoping to move forward in outreach, can be more useful.
On the other hand, if you blog under your real name, keep in mind that the internet is forever, and whatever you blog and however well or badly you say it, people will be able to find it, under your name, when you’re 90. If you do want to blog under your name and are a student or post-doc, you may want to check with your program and advisers and see if they are ok with their students doing this (hopefully they would be, but you never know, some schools do have special regulations in place regarding new media and their faculty, staff, and students). Additionally, keep in mind that if you are under your real name, and a girl, even if you don’t put up a pic, people WILL find pictures. And they WILL say things.
Scicurious
About the author: Scicurious has a PhD in Physiology from a Southern US institution. She is currently a post-doctoral researcher at a celebrated institution that is very fancy and somewhere else. Her professional interests are in neurophysiology, specifically the interactions of neurotransmitter systems. She blogs at Neurotic Physiology and can be found on Twitter.
Anyone else have any experience, either good or bad, blogging under their real name or a pseudonym? Start a conversation in the comments section below.
| Print article | This entry was posted by Peter Janiszewski, PhD on December 13, 2010 at 5:36 am, and is filed under Guest Post, How to Start, Science Blogging. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
- Quick Links | A Blog Around The Clock
- The Science of Blogging: On Pseudonymity | Neurotic Physiology
- The Effect of Pseudonymity on Blogger Credibility « CMBR
- Why I don’t use a Pseudonym | Red Strawberries
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- Cycle journalism and the social media: anonymity or pseudonymity? « cyclismespandelles
- Cycle journalism and the social media: anonymity or pseudonymity? « cyclismespandelles
- Blogging and self-promotion revisited
- On pseudonymity and wearing half a mask | Supernova Condensate
about 2 years ago
Yes! This!
But I am wondering if it’s right to call a pseudonym a “fake” name? What is the difference between a name picked by one set of humans (your parents) and another set of humans (you and your ego)? They are both artificial collections of vowels and consonants, cultural constructs, words that denote a person. Usually the name chosen by parents becomes legal in dealing with the state, but people have changed their legal names before (my Mom, when she was 12 years old did, for example). So, while the distinction between “real” name and “pseudonym” is real and meaningful and interesting to explore, I don’t think either one of them is “fake” in any sense. Right?
about 2 years ago
Two more points. Women draw wackjobs on the Internet and elsewhere. It can span into creepy and dangerous territory. It is another consideration. Two, it is difficult to maintain a complete disconnect between pseud and real identity. *particularly* in the direction of someone who knows you happening across your writing.
Pseuds are only a limited protection. Act accordingly.
about 2 years ago
That’s exactly it! People in my real life know my pseudonym, and I’ve had to make them take down information before that directly connects pseud and real name. Having a pseudonym is hard work!
about 2 years ago
Another point: Pseudonyms might provide a beginning blogger with a false sense of security. They do not provide the level of protection that beginning bloggers might think it does. Anyone writing under a pseudonym should do so with the expectation that their identity could be revealed at any point, to any one.
about 2 years ago
YES. DrugMonkey and Zen are VERY right. No matter how safe you think you are, blogging’s a public forum, and anyone can find what you write, and if so motivated, can connect it with you. Pseuds are a thin protection.
about 2 years ago
I am both an obvious and non-obvious pseudonymous internet user. “Seelix” is a pseudonym, obviously. However, the “real” name I use on the internet is also a pseudonym.
I do this because I used to have an internet presence under my real name, bute had threats to myself and my family. I was stalked by two different men and one of them went so far to look up my father’s information and occupation. I consider my “fake” name to be just as real as my real name and there are people I trust both on the internet and in my real life that know both (including my boss and the head of my department). The main difference is that my fake name can’t be traced back to my residence or my family.
The pseudonym is a necessary safety precaution for me, and I would actually recommend that a woman with any safety concerns start blogging under a pseudonym. It’s easier to transition to using a real name than the other way around. I know this from experience.
about 1 year ago
I have a quick question about not claiming the credit: is this really true? When you say this, do you mean in terms of putting it on a resume? I feel that if you start with a pseudonym eventually you can transition to using your real name once one is established? Are you saying by not claiming credit this is not the case? Thanks Sci!
about 2 years ago
Good points by all.
I choose the pseudonymous route because I tend to be a private person in general. Like Seelix I was stalked at an earlier age.
I really view my blog as just a way to interact with other bloggers; most of these are pseudonymous as well, so it seemed the way to go.
I have friends who read my blog, but they understand why I’ve chosen the pseudonym.
about 2 years ago
There are also some people with rather thin pseudonyms, but simply don’t want their blog or other online presence to be the first thing that appears when you google their name. PalMD and Orac are two who probably fit in this category that come to mind.
One other thing that may or may not be worth mentioning, is that I get the sense that animal researchers are a bit more hesitant to blog under their own names. It’s one thing to blog about animal research and be upfront about ones own research, but attaching an easily googlable name is literally putting a target on your back and is only for a certain type of person. It’s sad to say that, but it’s probably true.
about 2 years ago
I’m working under the assumption that my psuedonym will be broken eventually. I would just like to keep things on the dl for the most part. There’s just too much identifying information, and academia is a such a small world.
about 2 years ago
There are also reasons having to do with IRL affiliations. Not of the sort where blogging is actually prohibited (which is another story) but where there would be an unfortunate assumption of authority or influence. Journal editors and grant review panel members come to mind, as do faculty serving on their departmental hiring committee.
about 2 years ago
I probably didn’t give my decision to use my real name as much thought as I ought to have, back when I started blogging, but it’s worked out okay so far. To date, I’ve only had one creepily over-interested reader, and no PIs have flipped out over something I wrote about their latest paper. And it’s mighty nice to be able to cite my blog on my CV—online outreach was a big component of the broader impacts for the last grand proposal I wrote. (Though we’ll see how that works out.)
Writing under my own name does mean I keep my discussion of research results more polite than I might in an offline journal club. But even that aspect of using my real identity isn’t necessarily a bad thing; it gives me added incentive to make sure I know what I’m talking about, and to follow up errors with corrections and clarification.
So on balance, I think non-anonymity works for me, though I’m aware that the calculus might be different if I were in another department, or another branch of biology—or if I were a woman.
about 2 years ago
Having had my version of a scary Net stalker – complete with implied violence – back in my social blogging days, I empathize with the need for personal privacy. He never quite figured out my full name, even with pictures, so I was lucky.
As for pseudonyms vs. anonymous: people treat these as the same because, at first glance, they both seem to be accountable to no one. In that view, they can both drop flames all over other blogs, email people with crazy rants, etc, and no one can do anything to them, because their human identity isn’t known.
But there is a huge difference. At least with an *established* Pseudonym, you have a reputation that you’re building. Frak it up by being a jackass and your pseud will suffer – everyone will know it’s an a-hole and treat it as such. Sure, you can make a new name and new blog, but you start from scratch.
(Also, bloggers are very good at finding “sock puppets”, so even that doesn’t always work)
about 2 years ago
I am curious to know how many of you are academics? I get the sense that most active science bloggers are, for obvious reasons. The reason I bring this up is that I am not. I am a recovering academic, fully industrialized and for-profit, and that brings up my reasons for using a pseud.
Frankly, if any one of my numerous collaborators, business partners, clients, and other people that contribute directly or indirectly to keeping the lights on here in the office were to be able to attribute my real name to me commenting on any one of your blogs, business would drop off real sharpish. That’s not speculation; it’s a fact. People who think they have something to lose will worry too much about the perception of a direct financial connection with someone who comments (albeit infrequently because of time constraints) on these blogs.
Just look at how pharma and biotech companies have largely refused to enter the social media arena, even though they recognize its potential. The concerns over limitations on exactly what one can say when there is a perceived financial interest at stake are a pretty serious weight hanging overhead – and it trickles down into my area of healthcare business. So, for anyone in my position, a pseud is a necessity. I hope one day it may not be.
about 2 years ago
Interesting point in #13. I’ve heard the same from at least one other person employed in the commercial sector.
As an academic blogger I started blogging under a pseudonym, partly because I’d become part of a mostly ‘nym-based “Bad Science” commenting community on Ben Goldacre’s blog threads and forum. I also kept the ‘nym for the kind of “avoid idiots” reasons Sci listed on her Scientopia blog. Never had a death threat – reserved for bloggers with real impact, I think – but have certainly been “stalked” back to my home Dept webpage by one anti-vaccine activist. He then smeared me on the page I was debating him on as a “pharma shill”, listing all my Dept’s industrial collaborators from our pages. So I figured, who needs the aggravation?
More recently I have been blogging under my own name too, first at Nature Network and now at Occam’s Typewriter. I keep the tone of the blogs slightly different, so one is more official and the other more snarky.
On another point people have mentioned, I agree that if people are determined enough to find out who you are, they usually can, unless you are fanatically careful about avoiding all possibly identifying info. I have certainly worked out who a fair few UK-based pseudonymous bloggers are, just from things they have said about themselves.
about 2 years ago
Okay, I feel a ramble coming on so fair warning.
For a change, I feel really happy not to be a bonafide science blogger… or an academic, or a researcher, or in fact anyone with any sort of title or credential to live up to.
Typically I feel a little like the Little Matchgirl with her face pressed up the window of science bloggers, science writers, and researchers… (in my version of the story I am starving for contact with people who care about the things I care about, and I am starving to communicate in some way about the things I find interesting… the proper science bloggers/writers and researchers are the ones at the table feasting on INTERESTING work and are basking in the warmth of impressive credentials… and they don’t have to install software for people, or that sort of thing.)
But what an utter drag to live up to all of the standards y’all seem to have for yourselves, or perhaps the standards that are applied to you… hard to know which is which.
All I know is that I now blog under my real name (and caved in to having social media accounts and an online presence) because I have always felt I had to suppress my interests, personality, and my sense of humour (certainly there was no place for those things in my previous business roles…or I felt that way) and I simply have no other place to put them at the moment. And blogging anonymously (or under a pen name) feels like it defeats the purpose because then it doesn’t feel like the real me (the whole me, which includes my less than perfect face, my less than imperfect mind, my less than impressive credentials, my less than perfect writing etc.)
Whatever dudes. Now it’s all out there. I am not perfect. What a relief. Let’s get coffee.
In terms of stalkers and that kind of thing… On the one hand, I figure my name is in the phone book and in everyday life I walk around as the real me, with a face that everyone can see, so why should online be any different? And sometimes I think that not blogging under your real name simply generates MORE interest. I am considering releasing a sex tape and be done with the whole thing. Mahahahahahahhaha. Scary thought. (for you, the viewers, more than for me) I think back to the way I used to be, at work in particular—closely guarding my personal life—not that there was anything of much interest to guard, but it seemed to cause MORE interest. So now I figure they can go look at my life on my blog and get their fill. (fill of boredom) Maybe they won’t ask so many questions? But then again maybe they will print my photos and post them all over the walls of their creepy little apartment and light candles in a shine to me. It might be that having all sorts of information does give some types a certain sense that they know you and therefore fuels an obsession (probably contributes to what happens to celebrities… I think I recently read something to this effect) That part does creep me out (not just for me but for everyone, everywhere). (I’ve often wondered if that sort of thing will change in future when presumably there will be a lot of information out there on everyone and so information won’t be equated with intimacy… not sure if I have articulated that properly but…)
One last thing I will add is that I find I don’t have much interest in reading anonymous/pseudonymous blogs. No matter how great, on blogs I am looking to connect with the person and not just the content (there is enough content out there and content alone does not keep my interest). And the whole person includes knowing their face—like it or not faces are damned important to humans. I don’t care WHAT your face looks like, just that you have one. But maybe that’s just me. I don’t think it is. ( I do read SciCurious’s blogs on occasion, but it frustrates me that I have no idea who she is or where she’s coming from. I promise SciCurios that if I ever come across her face I won’t tape it up all over the walls of my apartment. I don’t even live in an apartment so it really can’t happen like that.)
Now if you’ll excuse me I must go find a job selling matches, or some sh&t like that.
about 2 years ago
I think it’s obvious to most psueds, the last comment about not being able to connect with other bloggers because you don’t know their real name is simply inaccurate. I’ve met bloggers whose name I didn’t know until I met them, and bloggers who blog with their real name. Happens all the time, I think.
about 1 year ago
You bring up some very compelling points for both sides of the issue. I’ve been using a pen name (otherwise known as a pseudonym) when writing articles for my website. It began years ago at the very start of my writing career as a means of giving readers an idea about the theme of my site.
It’s important that I make it clear that I don’t hide my identity; in fact my real name is featured in guest post and submissions to article directories. Yet, I do find the pen name to be very useful and enjoyable as it provides an association with my website.
about 1 year ago
Good points, I’ve been using a rather abstract “fake” name, ben268 … and it can be used by anyone really, but on forums that I’ve been registered the name tends to be well known, and I think it’s more effective than using your real name.