You may have noticed a change around here lately. I am now blogging under my new name. Dun dun dun. The idea actually makes me feel ill. Sure I felt comfortable linking to my blog from my LinkedIn account, but putting my name on my work is a whole other ballgame.
I blame the Ryans and Penelope for getting me into this mess. When the Ryans asked me to be a part of their new business venture they pressed for myself and other bloggers to start blogging under full names. Their repeated requests caused me to do some soul searching, and of course some internet searching.
I thought first about blogging under a pseudonym. I thought “Rachel File” was kind of cute. A quick internet search changed my mind about that idea. You see as part of their mass conspiracy, the Ryans and Penelope of ganged up to take over the internet. When you search “blogging under real name” in Google, the first thing that comes up is a blog by Penelope. Penelope’s own struggle with a pseudonym made me realize that it’s more trouble than it’s worth. If some day I wanted to claim credit for my work here, I didn’t want to have to convince people that I was truly the author.
That left me back at the beginning, debating whether to use my real name.
A large part of my hesitance came from wanting to control who views my blog as a piece of my work. I write for fun, which means I don’t take my work seriously enough to feel the need to proofread it. I did not want people to come across my blog and mistake it for a true reflection of my writing.
The other big reason behind my hesitance was the fact that I would have to restrict my writing. This blog has become a place for me to vent my feelings based on events that have recently impacted my life. I wanted to be able to continue using this blog as therapy. Although, after some thought I realized that I was already censoring my writing and saving good stories for a time when they’re less relevant.
In the end, I decided to take a risk. This is my attempt at bravery. I still don’t like seeing that people found my blog by searching my name. Or, seeing Employment File rise on the Google search results for my name. But, I will survive and just maybe someday it’ll payoff.
February 20, 2008 at 4:27 pm |
Hi Rachel!
Glad to hear you’re using your real name. I’m not sure if us ganging up to take over the internet is a good thing or a bad thing, but I think it could be fun.
Anyway, I really think blogging under your real name is the best thing you can do. Sure you have to censor yourself a little bit, but everyone has to watch themselves these days. Whether its on Facebook, MySpace, your email, or your blog, there isn’t much privacy these days. The best thing we can do is embrace it and create a public image that represents us in a positive light and also stays true to who we are and what we believe in. (Even if its a little censored!)
-Ryan