{"id":5179,"date":"2004-12-07T16:55:48","date_gmt":"2004-12-07T20:55:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/2004\/12\/07\/and-pseudo-eponymously-yours-"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:58:09","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:58:09","slug":"and-pseudo-eponymously-yours-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2004\/12\/07\/and-pseudo-eponymously-yours-too\/","title":{"rendered":". . . and pseudo-eponymously yours, too"},"content":{"rendered":"

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To follow\u00a0up on my morning post about naming weblogs<\/a>: Being anonymous shouldn’t <\/span>mean having no <\/span>personality, and the name of a\u00a0weblog can help create a consistent <\/span><\/span>identity, while <\/span>its author remains nameless.\u00a0 [see Craig<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Evan<\/span><\/a> on weblog-building.]<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Although I prefer weblogs with identified proprietors,\u00a0a good pseudonym seems like <\/span><\/span>the answer for those desiring to remain unknown: <\/span><\/span>As <\/span>Wikipedia <\/span>notes<\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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“The main difference between anonymity and pseudonymity is that while <\/span>in anonymity the identity is not known, in pseudonymity, there exists a <\/span>separate persistent “virtual” identity but it cannot be linked to a physical <\/span>person, persons or organization.”<\/span><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\"ship<\/span><\/div>\n
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Adopting a pseudonym\u00a0— and a pseudo-eponymous name for a weblog — is far more <\/span>interesting than sticking the word “anonymous” next to some generic role or title. <\/span>I’m <\/span>grateful that the anonymous authors of <\/span><\/span>Go Ask Alice<\/span><\/em><\/a>, <\/span>The Way of a Pilgrim<\/span><\/em><\/a>, and <\/span>Story of O<\/span><\/em><\/a>, <\/span>decided not to use the titles “Anonymous<\/span> Novel,” Anonymous Non-<\/span><\/span>Fiction Book, or “Anonymous Biography.”\u00a0\u00a0 They wanted to keep their own identity <\/span>hidden — not the identity of the publication.<\/span><\/div>\n
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So, unless you’re trying to corner the <\/span>service-mark on a term that uses “anonymous”, <\/span><\/span>spend a little time coming up with <\/span><\/span>an interesting and revealing title for your weblog <\/span>(or, you’ll end up like this weblog, <\/span>confusing the hell out of people).<\/span><\/div>\n