Who are you? ‘Cause I really want to know.
Who Are You, by the Who
Written by Pete Townsand, From the album Who Are You?, MCA (1978).
A reader asked me to contact him or her to see if we teach at the same or similar college. I decided against it. Why? Because I want to maintain my anonymity. If I were to reveal my true identity, I am not sure if I would be as open with my thoughts and comments. We are more candid when we have our identity masked by our blogger name. There is some security in that. (Of course if someone wanted to find out someone’s blog identity, I am sure they could).
When I first began to blog, I told a few colleagues about it. Word got around about my commentaries. A colleague began to post some nasty things about me, personally and professionally. So I had to end that blog. Of course I began blogging again, but with several caveats to protect my identity.
Some people do not look fondly on the blogging experience or understand why people blog. New Kid in the Hallway recently blogged about the pitfalls of ‘coming out” as a blogger. They tend to confuse it with keeping a journal. I have kept a journal on and off for most of my like. A journal is a place to chronicle your most personal thoughts that you would never share with ANYONE. Bloggong is different. Blogs allow us to share our personal thoughts, but with a community who shares those thoughts or experiences.
Blogging has become an outlet for me. I can share, complain or discuss things with people who have similar experiences. Sometimes I feel vindicated when I read a post or a comment which confirms that I am not the only one out there. There are times where I gain a new perspective on certain issues, or someone challenges my line of thinking. I have met some wonderful and interesting people through blogging.
So, I think I will keep my secret.
About Me
- Seeking Solace
- I am a college professor who is fumbling through the chaos of academia, rheumatoid arthritis, working on my PhD and just being a 40 something woman. I used to be a lawyer, which made me a snarky little person. I have a wonderful Husband and a German Shepherd named Junior. They help keep me sane.
Paws to Consider
My Sister's Keeper
7 comments:
I second your thoughts---exactly!
good call on the anonymity. is there any way to figure out where this reader is from without letting you know where you're from?
I thought about doing a reverse email search. We'll see.
Why don't you ask him to show his first. Then if it is not the same institution you can say "sorry, not the same place, dude." And if it is your uni, you can say "sorry, not the same place, dude." But it might be good to know who he is -- in case he's right and telling others about you.
Yes. I'm paranoid. the ivan tribbles have me scared for adjuncts and assistant prfffffs.
I'm the original reader who was wondering. I absolutely agree about anonymity, which is why I didn't post, "Hey, I teach at X. You teach there too, right?" But some of the details seemed familiar, and I was curious. I hope I didn't ruin anyone's day! I was going to post a link to my blog, but again, I talk about where I live and teach there, and someone might be able to draw conclusions about this blog, if I'm right.
In other words, I'm not anonymous on my blog, but I totally get why others might want to be, so I tried to provide a way for someone to contact me if curious without ruining that person's anonymity -- that's why I used an e-mail address that doesn't provide a clue to MY identity. I just wanted to explain that and now I'll fade quietly into the woodwork so I don't screw things up for an anonymous blogger.
Dear Anonymous,
I hope you were not offended by my comments. I am just a bit paranoid give what has happened in the past. I hope you will still read my blog and share your thoughts.
Not offended at all! I've been journaling/blogging online for about six or seven years, so I've seen the drawbacks of revealing your identity many times, unfortunately.
I'm not anonymous, but that means that I can't speak as freely as I would like. I'm also full time, not an adjunct, which I guess gives me a little more protection (although not really, without tenure).
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