There are several folks I know who are blogging anonymously or with pseudonyms. One former colleague who has since moved on wrote in their blog that it was a new start in another place because colleagues were reading what was written. With the desire of some folks to blog anonymously or with pseudonyms, here are a few tips:
- Don't use your email address: If your email address on every system you get one on is joesmith123 then don't make your pseudonym joesmith123. This all-to-common mistake makes it very easy to follow people to various message boards where they may have posted about things thinking they were anonymous.
- If you move your blog don't advertise it on the same list: If you were listed on a site with all stories from the Smith family and you list your new site there chances are it will be found.
- Don't use the same tool: If you consistently use one tool (as I do with Drupal) then try something else for your alter-ego.
- Don't post pictures of yourself: Especially if you have pictures posted elsewhere on the internet.
- Don't post at the same time: Don't post to your alter-ego at the same time of day.
Writing anonymously in public can be interesting. If you're normally a pessimist try the optimistic point of view, a liberal can try conservative ideas and vice versa. Most of all, don't post something that will be terrible if it gets tracked back to you. Chances are very, very, good that somebody will link your alter-ego to you if you say something controversial that garners attention. No amount of anonymity will keep you hidden because somebody always knows who is using what computer at the moment.
