January 24, 2010
By chris
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The Benefits of Anonymous Blogging
I have a personal blog called Binza, where I talk about things like athletic training, movies, music, books and other things. I get a fair amount of comments — but mainly from family and friends who’ve been on the scene for a while. When I started the blog, in 2001, I kept it strictly anonymous. I didn’t know much of what I was doing and even knowing that it was “my eyes only” I still felt as though I was giving a part of myself up to the public.
A couple years down the road I decided to tell my family about the blog and they’ve been involved ever since — checking in, commenting and sharing their own links. I realize now, however, that in the time that I went from anonymous to public, my approach to the blog and the content has changed. I write with an eye for who will be reading. I edit posts and even re-think before I comment. Not always, of course. But because my name is attached to these things I clearly need to bear in mind the effect certain comments will have. I really prefer not to have something come back to haunt me.
So recently, I started another blog focused mainly on my personal finance goals. I talk about how much debt I’m paying off, what my billable hours were for the day, my fears associated with money, debt, expenses, etc. The fact that this blog is anonymous allows me absolute freedom to share everything on my mind related to each post’s purpose and the goal of the blog. In other words, I’m not out to just rant about things. I’m out to share specific information about my day and my feelings associated with it.
In the week that I’ve been doing this, I actually feel happier. I feel I’m unloading certain fears from my mind as I write things down, and each night I’m tallying up my day’s earnings. This has motivated me to focus on working more. I look forward to posting each night. I don’t have any links on the blog that allow readers to comment. I also have not publicized the blog and don’t plan to. I love the anonymity and feel that this blog is my tiny corner of the world to work towards a specific goal.
Do I still hope for readers? Sure! There’s a lot of validation in growing a following. But I don’t want anything to get in the way of how I write. I don’t want to hold anything back and I believe that sometimes, when you have your name attached to them, you’re forced to consider every post, every word, every comment.
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