When we first started Moue, Will and I posted only under our first names. There was no reason for this; we just hadn’t considered adding our last names at that time. As each of our other writers joined on, I left it entirely up to them how they wanted to be credited. As such, Will and I now post under our full names, Shawn and Dave by their first names and Acallidryas under a pseudonym. Acallidryas has no nefarious reason for using a pseudonym. It was her preference and has no bearing on the veracity of her posts or her writing abilities. 

Though she doesn’t have a critical reason for remaining anonymous, there are anonymous bloggers that need to remain that way to maintain their employment or their safety. As AKMuckraker of the blog Mudflats writes: 

It said in my “About” page that I choose to remain anonymous. I didn’t tell anyone why. I might be a state employee. I might not want my children to get grief at school. I might be fleeing from an ex-partner who was abusive and would rather he not know where I am. My family might not want to talk to me anymore. I might alienate my best friend. Maybe I don’t feel like having a brick thrown through my window. My spouse might work for the Palin administration. Maybe I’d just rather people not know where I live or where I work. Or none of those things may be true. 

Her point is that readers do not know if one (or more) of those reasons is why she chose anonymity. And there’s no reason the readers need to know. 

But that didn’t stop Alaskan Representative Mike Doogan from “outing” AKMuckraker’s real name in a letter on the website of the Alaska Democrats. The added kick to the teeth comes from the fact that he added it at the end, almost as an aside, just to prove his personal theory that “you can say what you want, as long as you are willing to stand behind it using your real name”. The rest of the letter isn’t about her blog. There’s been no evidence that she has some inside information and is thus writing as an anonymous investigative reporter. Doogan essentially outed her because he could. Which is a slimy move. 

With few exceptions (ex: the TPM crew), bloggers aren’t working as investigative reporters. The style of personal blogs (those not hosted by a magazine/organization) tends to be a cross between opinion columnist and essayist. The blogger will link to wherever they got the data or information they are using. That’s more fact checking than usually happens at the Washington Post. But since most bloggers are not going out there and digging up their own information, relying on sources and hitting the streets, their name is really irrelevant. Atrios wasn’t prone to factual errors before his name was known. Digby’s style has remained consistent before and after people knew her full name (and that Digby was actually a part of it). And even after that information was known, most people still refer to them by their chosen blog name. Because their real names are irrelevant. 

At best, Mike Doogan violated someone’s privacy for no reason. At worst, he put someone’s life in danger. 

(h/t: Hilzoy)