Stories from behind the anonymous curtain.

I expected a strong response to yesterday’s post on “Three reasons not to blog anonymously,” and that’s what I got. But I was pleasantly surprised by the level of thought and introspection that commenters and e-mailers put into their replies.

I’ve got two interesting stories to share from the world of anonymous blogging, but first I wanted to admit a few caveats on my opinion:

1. I’m tainted by my journalism background. I spent years getting verbally abused by callers, e-mailers, politicians and editors for newspaper articles I’d written under my own name. It takes a while to build up a thick skin, and I sometimes forget that most writers might not be ready for the surprising intensity of people’s (usually anonymous) rage.

2. I assume most of my readers are vaguely interested in marketing. Some people objected to my point about being able to take credit and potential cash in on their blogging. I know that a lot of people have no such aspirations, and that's fine. But since this is a marketing-themed blog, I figured most of us are capitalists at heart.

3. I had an ulterior motive. Through this job and the AdFreak gig, I’ve met a lot of fantastic young talents, many of whom are toiling online in anonymity because they worry that their e-life could damage their work life. Part of my motivation of writing the “don’t be anonymous” post was to encourage these people — and their more-veteran counterparts — to take pride in their Web work. I think they’ll find that it creates a lot more potential than pitfalls.

4. I forgot to mention that if you must go anonymous, it’s worth making the effort to have at least one blog that you don’t mind your boss seeing. Blogging remains a skill that very few people have, and if you have any aspirations of incorporating it into your work life, you’ll want some bit of evidence to share with employers.

OK, enough of me. Now let’s get to the perspectives from two of my favorite anonymous bloggers.

One is Alan Wolk, who spent years blogging about the ad industry under the pseudonym “Tangerine Toad.” This year, after parting with his employer, Alan switched to his real identity and has become one of the most respected names in social media marketing.

The second friend I talked to still writes under the pen name “thegirlRiot,” though her anonymity is actually a fascinating case study in personal branding.

Check out their responses after the jump.

First off, here are thoughts from Alan:

I had no idea where I was going to net out with the blog when I started it. The idea of people who weren't "famous ad guys" speaking out was a new one — and I wasn't sure anyone wanted to hear from Alan Wolk.

I also had no idea whether what I'd say would offend people and thus lessen my job prospects.

After the blog took off, it sort of felt like I was a superhero — mild-manned Creative Director by day, famous blogger by night. And the whole "Toad" thing was good branding — people definitely took note of who I was.

I also realized that there was no reason to blog anonymously other than the whole “who does this guy think he is” thing — an attitude that still permeates many traditional ad agencies. 

But that attitude is dying off quickly. People at agencies are far more open to the idea of blogging and stating your opinion online. Though at the same time, there's a growing realization that, like anything else, there are people who are good at it and people who aren't. It's also important to realize that many of them think blogging is okay because they see it as trendy and as something that they really ought to know about.

Bottom line is, at this point, there's no reason to blog anonymously unless you expect to say unkind things about other agencies and other ad people in a way that you would not feel comfortable owning up to in real life.

Moving from "Toad" to "Alan Wolk" was easier than I thought, since most people knew who I was anyway. I spent some time doing search optimization and making sure that all "Toad" things were linked to Alan Wolk.  I've been fortunate to be able to find work doing social media consulting and making what I started on the blog into a full-time occupation.

Meanwhile, thegirlRiot continues to write under her pseudonym. But the surprising thing is that while she’s very opinionated on advertising and social media, she doesn’t make personal attacks or say much of anything that she’d ever really regret.

For her, it’s a matter of creating a personal brand, something that Alan also touched on.

Here’s what she had to say about this whole issue of anonymity:

I wanted to come at it like an art. At heart, I'm an art kid. Not an aspiring art director — just an art kid. I like conceptual art and post modernism. I'm big on “the medium is the message” across multiple planes, not just advertising.

So when I decided to write a blog, I wanted to bring that to it — that essence of my own understanding and how I was going to consume advertising as a product. So for me, it was about drawing attention to the craft of both person and online aspects — creating a brand that worked both on- and off-line.

Some people come at that sideways — they have a name, they build a brand as a person. I wanted to come at it inversely, have a brand and understand that brand as a person.

My anonymity I wanted to function as a space without (overt) ties, with the freedom to craft. Anyone with two brain cells and an IP address can figure out where I work, and combine that with information I've put on Twitter, you can sort out my name.

And I meet people in person, so it's not about pure anonymity — it's about the actual meta craft of advertising and our interaction with it. That’s what I wanted to draw attention to.

So no, the anonymity is not a way to blast, or even to protect myself.

Anyone else out there want to share their stories of living a double life?

Comments

[KatFrench]

Good follow up to an interesting post. There's a lot to the second point you make: people blog for a variety of reasons, not all of which lend themselves to putting your real name out there.

Really, anonymous blogging is much like authors using alternate pen names. Charles de Lint wrote much of his "darker" stuff under the name Samuel M. Key. He made no real secret that it was him--the alternate name was a cue to readers of his lighter and more fanciful work that "here be dragons."

If you are passionate enough to want to start a blog on a topic that's wildly "off brand" for your professional identity, a digital pen name makes sense.

[Cleolinda Jones]

>>If you are passionate enough to want to start a blog on a topic that's wildly "off brand" for your professional identity, a digital pen name makes sense.

This is my view of it--I started off as a blogger from day one with a pen name because I had internet safety concerns, which I really do think people (women in particular) need to consider. I even give out a PO box rather than a home address if people need to mail something to me. Basically, I don't want someone calling me in the middle of the night or showing up on my doorstep, and I've already had a few problems with people getting a little obsessive online as it is.

But "Cleolinda Jones" is also the name I publish under, as a legitimate creative identity that I would be willing to introduce myself to people with--it's not, you know, "prncess_sparklboots666." (And since I write about pop culture, I can get away with that kind of whimsy.) I fact, I think it's actually a bonus, in that "Cleolinda Jones" is far more memorable (even in a "Huh?" way) than my real name; the people at Orion who did my book cover actually ran with it and gave me kind of a '70s-inspired design rather than the girly pink chick-lit style I'd been dreading.

So I do think y'all are right, it's in a blogger's best interest to brand their writing with a cohesive identity--it's just that that identity doesn't have to be their legal, real-world identity.

[John Carson]

"I’m tainted by my journalism background. I spent years getting verbally abused by callers, e-mailers, politicians and editors for newspaper articles I’d written under my own name."

Me too, Dave. The thing I love about blogging is that now and again I actually get a nice response!

[DianeEddy]

Greetings! This struck close to home. Unfortunately, I feel that I have to blog and comment under an assumed name, because of potential repercussions. I usually "speak out" anonymously about politics. It's too touchy to risk under my own name unless I am retired!