The Debate

In Blogging America, by Aaron Barlow, the author discusses the functions and complications of blogs in society. We learn that blogs are a new form of communication media on the Internet. People can now become authors to voice their opinion or display information that they want to share with the world in just a matter of minutes. Blogs can differ from posting personal information about ones life to any topic in society ranging from politics to pets, and anything in between. With this endless range of topics come a broad variety of authors. With all the complexities that exist within the internet, many bloggers ask themselves the question, “Should I reveal my identity on my blog?”. This chapter weighs out reasons for releasing or not releasing your identity on your blog.

Aaron Barlow discusses reasons not to reveal your identity that he extracted from Chris Harris’s article in the School Library Journal. Harris’s first reason is that giving your opinion on a topic may not always be the right choice. Sometimes writers do not think before they speak and this can cause a problem between two parties. A second reason is that sometimes stories that are told should not be said at all. This theory comes into play because releasing information about people or a topic may cause someone to get in trouble or put them in potential danger. Aside from these reasons, there are many others. Another reason not to reveal your identity would be to avoid threats. There have been many cases of people receiving death threats or other forms of harmful statements towards themselves because of information or topics posted on blogs. An easy way to avoid all of these potential happenings would be to conceal your identity.

But even after hearing all of these reasons to keep your identity private, there is still a main reason that people wish to display their identities. Barlow states (2008), “The freedom that facelessness provides (and one’s online manifestation can be faceless, if one so desires) can bring down the entire structure.” (p.40) This tells us that, we are in fact free to be anonymous on the internet if we want to be, but at the same time it can damage the whole foundation and meaning of the blogosphere. By authors revealing who they are on their blogs, makes the ‘structure’ of the ‘online community’ more realistic because actual people are talking about their own personal lives and the reader can now get a sense of who they are. (Barlow, 2008)

After reading about reasons to reveal your identity or to keep that information private in this chapter I feel that it is crucial to the online community to use your real name on your blog. I agree with Barlow’s argument that it adds depth and structure to this growing form of media. It is important because it allows the reader to connect to the author and gain a sense of personal insight to the author’s thoughts and arguments.

From:
Barlow, Aaron. (2008). Blogging America. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.