time for a regularly scheduled post about pseudonymity

When the New Year started I blogged about my ten year anniversary of blogging (this year) and some thoughts on my ambivalence about pseudonymity.

Pseudonymity seems to come up often on blogs that use one and I know I have nothing original to say about the topic. Lately I've had quite a few experiences related to pseudonymity that have me thinking about it again.

I've gotten some questions from other bloggers and twitter users about why I choose to be pseudonymous. First, being pseudonymous allows me some freedom from my blogging impacting my career or someone's impression of me as a professional (more on that in a minute). Do I want my colleagues and reviewers to know about my struggles? Yes but mostly no. That being said even though I'm pseudonymous there are several topics I don't blog about. You'll never see a story here about my students/teaching experiences or my colleagues, for example. Second, being pseudonymous gives me the freedom to be incredibly personal. It is easy to use a mask to be open.

I've also been asked lately if I'll ever de-pseudonym myself, perhaps after tenure. I don't know. I doubt it - I like the flexibility that Psyc Girl affords me. I probably will guard her less closely - right now I have a relatively tight lid on pseudonymity. I don't post photos of Cat, or the Psychmobile, photos that someone who lives here would recognize, or even my silhouette.

In the past year, I have de-pseudonymed myself for a handful of people. I became Facebook friends and have exchanged some emails with a few who have been reading the blog since basically the beginning (Hey, if you put in 10 years with this crap...). There is also a handful of my twitter followers I've given my name too - some because I've helped review materials, some because we became close friends, some because I just inherently wanted to. I even had my first tweet up last month! And I have some thoughts on that too.

First, I don't have to out myself to anyone if I don't want to. Sometimes I get the impression that people really want me too - and sometimes I want to tell them who I am, and sometimes I don't. Sometimes it's a gut call and sometimes it's just easier. I don't want to have to remember who knows who I am and who doesn't. So I err on the side of not bothering. I think I can be close to people and very genuine behind my pseudonym.

Second, I've learned that blogging and twitter can be a great way to meet like minded people. When I met up with two people from twitter (and their friends) at my conference last month I had a blast. From my perspective it was easy to spend time with them, and I felt like I knew them really well. In our day to day lives, especially as academics, I think it can be hard to meet those kind of people. Twitter cuts to the chase, in particular.

Third, I've been pleasantly surprised at how many people will respect the pseudonym and actually take the time to make sure I'm not "outed" by accident. When I give my name to someone, I'm trusting them with a lot, so I really appreciate this. And so far it has reassured me that I've given my identity to the right people.

When I blogged about my anniversary this year I said this:

And I suppose there is a little bit of this: Psyc Girl is often the better version of me - the raw me, the vulnerable me, the true and honest me. Sometimes she still feels like a separate person. What if people don't like me as much, as the woman-behind-Psyc Girl? Pseudonymity creates protective barriers as well.

The last thing I've learned is that.... people like Psyc Girl. (So, me). That is, when people get to know me through my blog, it's not as if they've run screaming in horror from my dysfunction like I expected they would. And I've realized Psyc Girl is not necessarily a different version of me - she's a fast track to knowing me more intimately. Last night I was thinking about someone in particular and thought "Holy crap. [That person] actually seems to enjoy my [online] company still, even though they have my name/know who I am." How fabulous is that? Isn't that what I've always valued - having people in my life I can be myself with? If there was ever a reason to stick with blogging for so long, this one is it.