In your name?

One recurring question in relation to blogs is that of anonymity and this is an area that academic research has become increasingly interested in. Anonymity on blogs calls for a more nuanced perspective. Withholding one’s personal information per se is not a definitive index to anonymity.

Some defend anonymity because they enjoy the creative freedom that blogging offers – to explore new ideas and the potential to ‘fictionalize’ themselves as writers.

On the other side of the fence are frequent comments reflecting the fact that those commissioning work and/or trying to spot new talent view blogs. The argument is that those people won’t be inclined to pursue anonymous writers.

“The Internet is one of the best marketing tools anyone has at their disposal. I’ve had work purely on the basis of my website. People have started searching on UKScreen or Shooting People or whatever and have found my name; from there they’ve gone to my website or this blog and read some of my scripts. They’ve then got in touch about me writing for them, or sometimes asked if they can produce one of my short scripts.”(Phil Barron)

At the third level of analysis, a compelling reason for writers to blog becomes self-evident; the trail that can simply lead from others' blogrolls. This trail has often led me to a vast array of writing related information, contacts, ideas and a place to communicate with like-minded people in what can potentially be a very lonely profession.

Unlike a google search leading to a speculative email, blog research opens a more personal method of communication from the outset.