“Allie” is a pseudonym: Blogs, Privacy, Kindness (or not!) and lifelong learning
I’ve blogged on and off since 2004. I had a blogger blog – which I kept anonymously – for about 3.5 years, and recently started up a sewing blog on WordPress. I chose WordPress for strategic reasons; Blogger tends to be used strictly for personal blogs, while WordPress has much broader enterprise-level applications. I’m learning […]
Continue reading “Allie” is a pseudonym: Blogs, Privacy, Kindness (or not!) and lifelong learning Posted in: Week 07: Blogs
kstooshnov 11:49 am on October 18, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Allie, or… ummm…
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on blogging and anonymity. On the one hand, people should be able to maintain control over their image and identity, especially as anyone from around the world can use your opinions, preferences or personal information to one’s own advantage, which you may have unwittingly provided. Yet on the other hand, isn’t the anonymity of the Internet a cause of misinterpretation and even cyberbullying? You seem like a very engaging educator with a passion for sewing and architecture, but now knowing that “you” are not Allie leads me to wonder how much of your identity is also pseudo. Not to sound like someone from the older “paranoid” generation, but how much do we know about Tasia, Sunni or Gertie, the three sewist you hyperlinked, from their blogs. Gets to be like the 2010 movie Catfish. Sharing talents and interests on the Internet should be encouraged, and the more that others can find out about the bloggers, the better, or to adapt the line from Twelfth Night “is it a web to hide virtues in?” (I, iii, 124)
For my first assignment, I needed to make use of the blogs and Second Life creations of someone with the pseudonym Ina Centaur. While she was up-front with her assumed identity, even blogging her biography without giving away too much personal information, I found it frustrating that I could not get any second-hand information on her. The project that she worked on had so much personal investment, that it is too bad that there was no other reliable source of information on her. For students learning the ropes of web communities, yes, there should be a certain level of privacy involved, yet for someone like “Ina” who needs funding so that her project should know better than to usurp herself in anonymity: “for what is yours to bestow is not yours to reserve.” (I, v, 181)
Kyle
Juliana 5:17 pm on October 18, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello “Allie” 😉
Thank you for bringing up the issues of anonymity and security. I agree that you do need to be cautious about putting information up on the internet, especially if you are a minor. And it can be especially irritating and even heart-breaking when the work that you publish gets copied and co-opted.
As you are mostly talking about blogging for personal use, what do you think needs to be put in place to make blogging platforms even better for personal use?
Juliana.
bcourey 7:45 pm on October 18, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Allie…I have met my soul mate – I too am a sewer..in fact, I lived in front of my sewing machine making everything from my childrens’ clothes to several wedding dresses! I would love to view your blogs! I have to admit though that my machine is getting rusty from misuse due to the demands of my new job! What a great way to share your passion though, then through blogging – Time to share with other sewing fanatics out there!
Deb Kim 9:11 pm on October 18, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Wow, Allie. Is it possible for you to share your sewing blog? I’d like to see it if you don’t mind as I like sewing too. 🙂
Internet privacy was also one of my biggest concerns when I started blogging for my students. However, for WordPress, there is a privay function that you can use for your blog privacy. You can mark your blog private and only allow people that you permit to see the blog.
Deb
jenaca 12:29 am on October 21, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I agree!! Is there any way you could share this blog:)? I also really enjoy sewing and would love to check your blog out!!
For me, I have always been very concerned with what information I post on the web and the privacy aspect that comes along with it. Once something is on the internet it can be used in anyway by anyone! This is a scary thought to me!!
Jenaca
David William Price 6:06 am on October 19, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Great post. You share stuff I find insightful and it’s a shame your anxiety causes you to shield your identity from us. I used to remain pretty strictly anonymous but I changed all that once I started doing research on anxiety management.
I realized that everyone is anxious and a person’s manner of communication really and truly had nothing to do with me, but was entirely a reflecting of their anxiety coping habits.
I also realized my communication habits were similarly driven. I’ve been encouraging some of my fellow students lately (in person) who have been feeling overwhelmed in their program. I suggest that they focus on expressing their individual value which is a function of their past experiences and their unique perspectives. The more little risks you take, the more positive experiences you will have, and the higher your confidence will be.
In person, when I’m not too tired, I can coax and coach the people around me. In the digital realm, it’s a little harder, particularly as there are so many voices around us all the time and we can misinterpret STRIDENCY for UBIQUITY. The more we chat around, the more we discover those strident voices are often in a minority and always reflect poor anxiety copying habits.
I make mistakes myself, sometimes being a little too aggressive or analytical during discourse, which can switch people off. I’m trying to develop better emotional intelligence in this regard to recognize when this is happening then switch into a quieter and more active listening mode.
In the last week I tried coaxing a couple of my classmates into accepting that they are personally awesome and to focus on their intrinsic motivations and wealth of experiences vs. chasing after extrinsic affirmations and feeling resentful at times at their lack of sense of control.
Tamara Wong 1:57 pm on October 19, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Allie,
Great post! I am a budding sewer! I took classes when I was young but haven’t had the time/room to sew for a while. I’ve recently hauled out my sewing machine and hope to keep it running! I’d love to follow your blog! I’ve seen many other sewing blogs but as you say it is different when you feel you have a connection with the blogger.
I also worry about privacy issues when working on the internet but I’ve never used a pseudonym and I was curious about your reasoning behind being so careful.
Deb Giesbrecht 6:13 pm on October 21, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Allie,
I found your post very insightful.You brought up some of the very real concerns that I have as well – anonymity, privacy and the very real reaction of real people. Thanks for sharing how you really felt when your blog posts were ‘dissed’. Now imagine if you were a teenager and had some self-esteem issues and had the same comments. People free much freer and liberal in sharing their ideas and thoughts (and some not so nice thoughts) when they know people do not know who they are. The not so nice side of people sometimes tends to come out. Children tend to be much more vulnerable and sensitvie to negative reactions (aren’t we all) and I lean towards the side of caution as I really feel people do not have the screening mechanism required to be able to determine what is really ‘safe’ out there. As well, I really find that people’s social skills are lacking when the majority of their ‘work’ and life is done online.
I would tend to agree with you that private spaces are the way to go if you intend to introduce these concepts into the classroom…at least in the beginning. Public domain and public opinion are not always a positive thing.