Lately I’ve been getting increasingly concerned about anonymous blogging and commenting.
I’ve been blogging for seven years now and while I do it under the ‘backyardmissionary’ moniker, its not hard to work out who I am, where I live and what I do. That is intentional. I offer my thoughts and reflections on issues and I am happy to stand by them or correct them if I am wrong. There have been several occasions over the last 7 years where I have posted apologies or have removed other posts as a result of being asked to re-think my position on an issue.
The problem with anonymous blogging and commenting is that in my opinion it lacks real conviction and courage. Its easy to offer all sorts of opinions from a place of anonymity, but it takes a lot more thought and reflection to do it from a position of visibility and accountability. When people know who you are it affects what you write.
I am aware that even as I post this some will challenge what I am say and perhaps even be offended at it. I am happy to hear your perspective. You are welcome to try and persuade me differently. But I am tired of people who can crow loudly and vehemently so long as no one knows who they really are.
So feel free to comment but if you are an anonymous commenter then your comment will get deleted.
I agree 100% with you. You and I disagree on stacks of things, but at the end of the day we can (I Hope) sit down and have a coffee and continue to be friends, because you know who I am, and know that I have your best interests at heart.
Its pretty hard to really engage with someone if you dont have some sort of idea who they.
Some of my good friends have been people I have intially met online, not much chance of that if they stay anonymous.
If you cant put your name to it, then should you say it? There are times I dont say what I really think because it might be too harsh, or to quick a judgement call…if I was a gutless anonymous poster, then maybe I would.
I wonder about the ‘internet warriors’ who hide behind the cloak of anonymity, and hope they find the courage to stand by their postings, or not post them at all.
By the way, we were talking about you today at the Mark Sayers talk, and about how soft you are getting….porta loos inside the caravan… 🙂
I am with Mark on that one. And I really have ‘issues’ with conflict and needing to be liked, so sometimes putting my name to harder to say comments is difficult but I just con not hit enter unless I have my name on it…yes MY name, not a made up one 🙂 I know I sound pathological but I believe this so strongly and fear being judged or misunderstood or ending in a fight so much I sometimes just fail to make a comment, but I still think this is BETTER than making a comment without signing or a fake name.
See, you’ve done it again. Unless the content was false, which it wasn’t, there was no reason to delete that post. Unbelievable. This is just a “I love me” club.
Mark – we might agree on more than we disagree on. One things for sure – portaloos are sensational! A coffee machine will always trump them, but i admit I was wrong about the portaloo…
We definitely do agree on more than what we dont! I forget that sometimes. 🙂
Mate – which part of ‘if you are an anonymous commenter then your comment will get deleted do you not understand? It was pretty clear!
I even emailed you to let you know your comment would be deleted (the second I have deleted in 6 years) so until you are prepared to make yourself known don’t bother with further comments on this blog as I don’t want to have to delete them every time.
You can disagree as much as you like when you are prepared to stand by your comments.
Oddly enough I don’t think Mark E would qualify for an ‘i love me’ club.
So in case you missed the point – either identify yourself or quit commenting. It’s that simple.
You know i love that part in the bible about what is whispered in the darkness will be shouted from the rooftops (sorry about the paraphrasing &lack of referencing,, Rhino is the thorough one, i’m more of a ‘you get the general idea’ kind of girl).
Personally, I’d take the anonymous comments anyway, but that’s because I have a small blog and any comment is a good one.
It is unfortunate that people don’t own up to what they write. Who knows why though? But don’t you think they’d check back to see if you’ve written something in reply? Maybe that could help you “win them over” sort of thing. Has anything like that ever happened?
I’m a young blogger, so this is all my opinion, but I hope it’s how I’ll do business, at least for awhile.
I’ve been tempted … oh so very tempted … to leave an anonymous comment or two on a few blogs over the years but I figure that if I’m not prepared to own the comment and put my name to it, I’m probably offering my thoughts in the wrong spirit and for the wrong reasons. With that being the case I’ve never left an anonymous comment on any blog or forum.
My experience has been the opposite of Servus Humillimus in that the vast majority of blog comments I see on the blogs I read are easily traceable to their writers.
Hmmm – now I have deleted 6 comments in 6 years.
‘SH’ go and do something useful with your time.
To make it clearer – until you have the courage of your convictions you are not welcome here.
Can you now stop leaving comments that I will only delete?
Or put your name to your statements. I can think of plenty of reasons why I could blog anonymously, but most of them have to do with how people might perceive me.
I care about how (real) people perceieve me so I do sometimes temper what I say. But then I wouldn’t have that problem if I were anonymous and my darker side would be let loose on all and sundry.
I have now deleted 7 comments.
SH – its very simple – don’t comment and you won’t be disappointed.
I agree with Rodney…I’ve been tempted to put anonymous comments on posts that have really irked me but I haven’t because it’s cowardice. If I’m not prepared to put my name then I won’t say it at all.
I’ve had anonymous comments on my blog too which have really annoyed me because I suspected it was someone I know in the ‘real world’ but they were too gutless to say it to my face.
The behaviour of the self named ‘Humble Servant’ is cowardly. Who are you? and what are you afraid of?
Can I still comment as Lionfish? Or do I have to comment as Richard Mac kenzie?
sure LF – I am only really concerned about anon comments where I don’t know who it is and they are being a knob.
Thanks Hamo. That means I can still be a knob – and post under an alias because you know me! 🙂
i love the word “knob” !! so many opportunities to use it and so many variations available in case one becomes bored with the standard version! 🙂
yes Dave I agree!