>I confess: I didn’t name my children Amigo and la Petite at birth. Husband has a name, and he complains that he wants to be called something more exciting on the blog.
I confess as well: I don’t blog about everything. Sometimes, despite blogging under creative names, I don’t want to vent about certain topics. Some things, no matter how entertaining they might be, need to remain private.
But anonymity on the blogosphere is dangerous in a way. Anonymous comments can be rude, spiteful, or worse. Many bloggers use comment moderation, personally approving all comments before they’re posted. Most blogs utilize codes to eliminate robot comments or program their comment boxes to reject anonymous comments.
That’s why when MomBlogs opened their new site, anonymousmom.com, I had mixed feelings. Anonymity can promote a false sense of safety or security. Ability to post without identity can lead to flaming, negativity, nastiness, and cyber-bullying.
I’ve enjoyed the MomBlogs, their blogrolls, and their new message boards. Their new site is billed as “No judgements, no advice, no husbands, children or even your own mother finding you. Simply your own place to let it all hang out!”
I’ll check this out, but with caution. How will they deal with the potential negative results of an anonymous message board? If it turns out to be a safe venue, it could be enjoyable.
If you’d like to check them out, the MomBlogs’ new Anonymousmom.com is here.
>I agree with you totally. I have a couple posts that I have written, but not published because I don’t really want people I know to read them. And I did think about starting a new blog, so I could be anonymous. But, I don’t have time or effort to put into maintaining another personality. Not to mention any fall-out or negativity. And at anonymousmoms, if things are truly anonymous, how will you know you are reading other mom’s stuff and not a man’s? Or even a pervert’s? Scary…..
>They’re not named Amigo and la Petite??? Hey, those names are much tamer than say, Moon Unit or Dweezil.
And I suspect any male interlopers on anonymousmoms would be found out fairly quickly. Call me sexist, but women think, and talk, differently. I don’t necessarily think it’s better or worse, just different. That’s my experience, anyway, from having worked in the past in a woman dominated field for several years.
Joe
>Hmm. I’m already fairly open in my own blog. Anything more can just go into my journal or my husband’s ear. Rather cowardly, I think, to be anonymously mean.
>Interesting. I agree, with flea. That is cowardly, but sadly so many take that route.
>Hey there! Just to put you at ease… we actually manually approve every post/comment and don’t approve ones where people are commenting on someone elses answer. It isn’t run as a message board where people are going back and forth… it is run in a way so that people answer the questions for themselves only. We have our rules posted that you aren’t allowed to comment negatively about anyone’s answer. If someone does, they don’t get approved. Hope that makes sense! 🙂
>Seems pretty awesome, thanks for the link Daisy!