Should I Blog Anonymously?
Well, okay, it’s a little late for me — but should you (presumably either a full-fledged attorney, a law student, or a future law student) blog anonymously rather than attaching your name to your posts?
It’s something that every blogger has to consider, and I began thinking about it again recently after getting pointed to this recent article on the NYTimes about a blogging lawyer who was reprimanded and fined for his blunt post about a judge. (hat tip: @spthomp16).
There are plenty of reasons not to post anonymously: you want credit for your ideas, you think it will help you gain clients or job opportunities, or maybe you just don’t see a reason to post anonymously. I noticed that the NYTimes article anticipates an increased number of these problems as more “young attorneys” begin practicing. I’m actually thinking that the increase will only come as older attorneys begin integrating social media into their practice.
While it is certainly true that my generation is less protective of their privacy, I think as a whole we’re getting hammered with people trying to teach us that anything we put out on the internet will probably end up in the hands of the person we’d least like to see it in. For instance: if I post “Judge X is an evil, unfair witch,” I should anticipate that before long, Judge X will be looking at said blog post; I have a gut feeling that’s a truism understood better by current and soon-to-be law graduates than older attorneys (obvious exceptions apply — probably most of the attorneys reading this post, in fact).
I’m curious how many of our readers have faced this decision. Which way did you lean and why?
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I think that the idea of writing anonymously is great for bloggers who are writing about more personal things–for example, the blog “Law With Grace” is written by a woman who is a prosecutor, who goes by “Grace” on the blog, but she makes it clear that this is not her real name. She writes about things that happen in her life, not just legal issues. The anonymity protects her personal privacy.
However, when blogging for business–to reach out to other legal processionals or potential clients, it’s necessary to attach your name (or at least your firm’s name) to the blog. Many attorneys blog in order to stay in touch with, and share expertise with, other attorneys. They also want clients to understand what they have to offer. Without the name, this would be difficult.
For those who do use their name, it’s good to remember that the internet is just like the rest of the world–there are rules of professional conduct that must be followed. If you can’t say it somewhere else, then you probably shouldn’t say it online.
I do disagree with your suggestion that older blogging attorneys will have more problems with privacy on the internet. In my experience, the older generation is so much more protective of privacy and so much more aware of the professional rules of conduct, that they are unlikely to make a mistake. I do think it’s the younger generation who will forget the rules–because we’re so open about our own lives and everything in them, it seems natural to post what’s on our minds–even if it gets us in trouble.
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I’m not sure it’s every really possible to blog anonymously. The danger for law students is that they disclose what they shouldn’t or use more inflammatory language in an ‘anonymous’ context. Blogging with my real name keeps me honest and accountable for what I say and has only helped my career as far as I can tell.
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Stephen Reply:
September 14th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
@Luke, I write an anonymous blog and technically I could insult the virtue of models from New York if I wanted to. It’s just never come up yet. I can’t help but think that what’s keeping you honest and accountable isn’t the fact you put your name on things, it’s really more down to you.
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Luke Reply:
September 14th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
@Stephen, your point is a good one. Nothing prevents an anonymous blogger from writing in an equally ethical and responsible manner.
However, when I say writing in my own name keeps me honest, I mean that I think I would be more likely to disclose things that are potentially embarrassing to myself and others if I were writing anonymously. I would be more likely to complain about people, presuming they wouldn’t find out. I would be more likely to write negatively about current or potential employers. I would probably be more interesting, but I would almost certainly be more dangerous if the veil of anonymity was ever pierced.
I read and enjoy a number of anonymous blogs. On average, I think they reveal far more than those who write in their own name and the majority would (a) consider having their real identity connected with their anonymous postings a negative thing, and (b) would not have written in the same way if they knew that their identity would someday be revealed.
There’s valuable freedom in anonymity which is why I would reject proposals to legislatively remove anonymity (see Saul Levmore’s Anonymity Problem, http://www.law.uchicago.edu/node/1520) but I’m glad I chose to write in my own name instead.
I suspect this really comes down to why someone is blogging. For instance, compare Underneath Their Robes and Above the Law – UTR probably wouldn’t have been as successful if it wasn’t anonymous, whereas ATL (still David Lat, still the same subject matter) is certainly no less successful, just different.
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I think Luke also makes a good point. The nature of the internet is that nothing is truly anonymous.
Remember the story of the “Skanks in NYC” blog that happened just a couple weeks ago? When the model who was being called a skank wanted to sue, she found out the “anonymous” blogger’s true identity from Google (because the blog was hosted by Blogger, a Google service).
While it is common sense to follow the basic ethics rules if not blogging anonymously, Luke’s comment made me remember that nothing is anonymous, anyway. So just follow the rules!
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I have been blogging semi-anonymously in that the blog isn’t written under my name, but it is fairly easily tracked back to me and it has been linked to me in the press etc.
There isn’t anything in it which is “not safe for work”, but I prefer not to have anything which would be an explicit link to my firm as I don’t want to feel that I have to second guess everything I write to consider whether it is on message.
I work on the basis that everything I write could be seen by anyone (although chances are it won’t be seen by that many people!) – so if you aren’t prepared to stand behind it it would be best not to write it!
If I was starting over with a bit more confidence I would probably use my name and just state that there is no link to the firm – probably anonymous blogging is better saved for those who really can’t afford to be identified (although even this is risky as other comments have noted).
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I had a ranty blog about politics that I went to great lengths to keep anonymous.
I thought about also doing an anonymous blog about my life in the law office I worked in. I planned to keep the entire blog private and off the search engines until I’d done about a year. That bright idea soon fizzled when previously anonymous police bloggers etc were getting outed by colleagues who’d figured it out to the press. So much for that idea!
I now blog openly as “real name attribution” carries more weight. Having said that, it also makes me self-censor in a way I never did before. The internet has a long memory!
PS thanks to Joshua for this and his other sites. They’ve been pretty helpful in getting my own off the ground.
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One a related note, this discussion brings up the issue of whether it is ever OK to unmask an anonymous blogger’s true identity. I would say the prevailing public opinion in the blogosphere would be no (Exhibit A: Ed Whelan) but I can imagine circumstances in which it would be approved of or even ethically required.
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[...] by the blogosphere. In fact, the story has been picked up by the Wall Street Journal Law Blog, Legal Geekery, and others. So of course, I have to throw in my two cents [...]
Luke left me the link to this post in my comments, as I just today switched from pseudo-anonymous blogging to not-quite-so-anonymous blogging. I hedge it like that because even when you think you’re anonymous, you’re not. And when you feel like you’re so public and exposed, people don’t care that much about the details of your life (well, I guess it depends what you’re posting about).
I was not anonymous as a blogger for many years, as I wrote purely for myself and family, almost like a year-long Christmas update letter. I started over anonymously last year after a couple of scary situations with other blogger friends (as a young, single woman there are a host of safety issues that people don’t take seriously enough, in my humble opinion…you shouldn’t be posting pictures of your house, etc.). I decided recently to move away from being quite so anonymous because I don’t see that there was much for my anonymity to protect.
I don’t worry about employers or whomever “finding” my blog because I don’t post things that I would be ashamed to talk with them about (although I doubt they are really that interested in my thoughts on the most recent episode of The Bachelor). I think it is what you make it, in the end.
I’ve been happy blogging in both camps and think you just need to do what works best for your life situation. If you blog with integrity, it doesn’t matter much to me whether you sign your real name or not.
Interesting post, great comments…
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Great post.
Social Media is here to stay. The important thing is to take a breath prior to posting anything, and ensure you are comfortable with what you are posting. Take a look at your post through the eyes of a judge, your managing partner, a potential employer or the character & fitness review board. Every one of these “authorities” has the ability to utilize this information and potentially affect your life at some time in the future, and if you don’t think they will utilize this information to assess your skills, attitude, ethics etc… then you are kidding yourself. As someone who has hired @ 30 people and promoted @ 5 more, I can assure you social media info can play a huge role in perceptions of a candidate. There is no reason to think any different outcome might ensue in a different context.
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I think that a lot of people may think they are “anonymous” – when – in reality, they are far from. Most people are unaware that you can be tracked down by IP. In this world, you are truly never anonymous. Bottom line, if you are ashamed at what you are saying… don’t say it.
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I blog anonymously, although there really isnt anything on my blog I’d say I am ashamed of. It is just that I am a shy person in real life so being anonymous allows me to speak my mind a bit more freely.
How are you able to “unmask” people off of blogger? My site is on blogger and that is just a bit scary.
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Is it horrible for me to quote Chris Crocker? Yes?
“Keep it cute or put it on mute.” – people get in trouble for negative, nasty posts that are basically all liability with no benefit other than momentary venting. If you stay positive then there’s only so much trouble you can get into.
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Great post.
Social Media is here to stay. The important thing is to take a breath prior to posting anything, and ensure you are comfortable with what you are posting. Take a look at your post through the eyes of a judge, your managing partner, a potential employer or the character & fitness review board. Every one of these “authorities” has the ability to utilize this information and potentially affect your life at some time in the future, and if you don’t think they will utilize this information to assess your skills, attitude, ethics etc… then you are kidding yourself. As someone who has hired @ 30 people and promoted @ 5 more, I can assure you social media info can play a huge role in perceptions of a candidate. There is no reason to think any different outcome might ensue in a different context.
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I’m commenting on this post a little late, but since I was just thinking about this very issue today…
I decided going public with my name was the better choice (I don’t write the blog under my name, but I comment on other blogs with my real name). For one, I don’t plan on posting things that I couldn’t or wouldn’t want to have my name attached to. And I’ve got to side with Luke here: when you’re not anonymous, you can’t hide under that very thin security blanket of anonymity, and you’re less tempted to say things you probably shouldn’t be saying in the first place.
Names of bloggers have a way of coming out at some point or another. It wouldn’t be the first time somebody innocently (or not so innocently) “outs” an anonymous blogger. I think this applies to law students especially -if you reveal your school, then you limit the the number of people you could be to a pretty small pool. Or as one student blogger did it, who inadvertently revealed the name of one the professors and the class they teach. A quick google search will tell you what school the student goes to. Maybe not a big deal, except if you’re trying to stay anonymous. It’s easy to give out too much info for somebody to figure out who you are.
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