"In" or "Out"

Wherein Our Heroine Doesn't Know What the Fuss is All About.

Rana over at Frogs and Ravens has been mulling over the issue of folks who choose to use their names (or not) when blogging. Who knew there was an issue? Well, actually I did - but mostly because Andrew Sullivan took Atrios to task for it back in January and it caught a lot of general airplay.

Pardon me for being reductionist, but it seems that the people who are flapping their arms and squawking over the "issue" are mostly trying to justify their own choices. "It's the way I do it, therefore it's the way everybody should do it." Well, no surprise - there's a lot of that going around these days.

The fact is, there's a lot of latitude on the Internet (and in the "blogosphere"). There is room for all - as Rana notes, "Read my ideas. Either they are sound ones, interesting ones, ones that are worth thinking further about -- or they are not. A Big Name doesn't ensure quality (haven't we all encountered a stinker here or there?) nor does having a Small Name mean mediocrity. It merely means that the field is large, there is a lot of competition, and some of us haven't had the time, money, connections, or inclination to become Big Names."

I chose to use my name for several different reasons. Mostly, there didn't seem to be any reason not to. There are thousands of Jill Smiths. As time went on, and I decided to write an FAQ, I deliberated whether or not to put my maiden name and other identifying characteristics in. I decided to do it on the general theory that there are a few folks out there in the world whom I have lost touch with - if they ever want to look me up, fine. There are a couple of people I'd rather not hear from, but I'm pretty confident that they know who they are.

I don't read Rana's work because of her name. I read it because she thinks interesting thoughts and writes about them well, and we have yoga, knitting, and gardening in common. If I sometimes get a mental image of a frog in downward-facing dog or busy at a spinning wheel, who cares?

As for the rest of the world, why all the kerfuffle over what is truly a personal choice? I suspect it is misdirected control-freakishness, which I tend to ignore. Like I said, there's a lot of it going around these days.

Posted: Tuesday - August 10, 2004 at 08:11 AM | |