The person in question had posted something and a commenter made an innocuous reference to the poster's pseudonymously-authored blog. I had grading to avoid so I found and read the blog. From beginning to end. It was a big pile of grading. S/he mentioned hir undergraduate institution, which was also mine. And said something that made it fairly easy for someone familiar with the region to narrow down hir geographic location. And a couple of things about the size and structure of hir department, the courses s/he teaches and hir research areas. And then, well, dammit Jim, I'm a librarian not a snowflake. I couldn't help myself. It was a reference question just begging to be answered. So I did. Since then I've been wrestling with whether to alert hir. It occurs to me that I could just ask the Misery.
So my question is: would you want to know that someone (albeit someone with obsessive-compulsive search skills, but someone) put together what you've said pseudonymously to figure out who you are? Or would you just find it annoying, or creepy?
If the person I've identified answers that s/he would want to know, I'll e-mail hir, from my real identity to hirs, and explain what tipped me off.
I have an intelligent 9-year-old nephew who is good at reading people's passwords, as they type them. I tell him, "Stop that, it's obnoxious." But then, I never did buy the argument that Robert Morris did the UNIX world a big favor, either.
ReplyDeleteSome people are better at keeping the salient details of their locations hidden. I'm not one of them, because a lot of my misery over the past year has come from being a state employee under fire in a state currently conducting a recall election. I'm not all that worried about it, really. And I have pointed my close colleagues in the direction of this wonderful site, so I'm sure I "know" people who read the page who "know" who I am. Again, not all that worried about it. Maybe I should be, but I guess I've just lost the ability to give a fuck.
ReplyDeleteThis is not a slam on you--I think it's fun to play with puzzles, and I'm a fan of mysteries. It's very rewarding to figure things out.
Since this pseudonym is linked to my book review blog, which is linked to my Goodreads account, which has my real name on it, it's really not difficult to figure out who I am. Which is why I'm so careful about what I say here. If I need to really cut loose, I e-mail the mod with a different pseudonym.
ReplyDeleteWhen I started using this moniker, I thought I was pretty damn clever, but I didn't know anything about the technical aspects of anonymity on the internet. A few people figured out very quickly who I was, and this pseudonym has been a bit of a weak shield ever since.
ReplyDeleteBut it's still good to know who knows: I have been blindsided by discovering that people knew who I didn't know knew, sometimes people who have little respect for the function of a pseudonym, even a weak one.
It may be that Conan's subject knows that they are vulnerable to discovery, but they may not; I would support the idea of contact and explanation.
Care to share any tips you picked up from your experience? I know to be careful about display names and whether my email address is displayed. And I realize that anyone on whose blog I comment can get some idea of my location at the time (and, were I to comment from school, my institution, but I don't do that).
DeleteYeah, but not only display names: blogspot, in its early days, embedded actual names in some hard-to-spot places. And the comment thing is an issue: it's even more important that you never comment the same place under both identities. Aside from potential accusations of sock-puppeting (never, EVER, comment as both self and pseudonym on the same topic, unless you're disagreeing with yourself), it's a quick give-away.
DeleteDon't link to your friends, enemies, rivals, collaborators or students: they're most likely to recognize you. The more your pseudonym and real identity overlap in cyberspace, the more dangerous it is.
Pseudonyms should have a distinctive voice, especially if you write elsewhere on the web under your own name.
Commenting on local affairs is a dead give-away. Sometimes you can get away with "the names have changed" but even vague references can be a problem. If you must, time-shift: don't comment on things as they're happening.
Pseudonymity is not anonymity, and shouldn't be considered cover for bad behavior. Candor, perhaps, and informality, and vigor, yes. But you're still responsible for what you write, and should be aware that you may well be attached to it someday. (There are quite a few pseudonymous bloggers who eventually had to, or decided to, or just evolved out of, their cover identities)
That's all I can think of off the top of my head.
Annoying, or creepy. But not dangerous. It is, however, why I never post about individual students, even by pseudonym.
ReplyDeleteIt's not me is it?
ReplyDeleteI am pseudonymous so that my students don't immediately find my antique dildo collection, my blog posts or my obsession with yak fur when they google me. If someone wants to do the detective work, well, then, yes, you can probably figure it out, or, amusingly, decide I am one of my colleagues (trufax).
ReplyDeleteI notice that when the OP talks about reading the person's blog, he/she does not say "brilliantly witty and compellingly written," so I am presuming it is not me.
ReplyDeleteI might find it a little creepy if discovering my identity took a lot of work to uncover but I would also be grateful. If one person can do it with no ulterior motive, then somebody more sinister can find out also.
ReplyDeleteI'd want to know, so I'd at least alert the individual that their 'cover' is blown if they want to change anything.
ReplyDeleteThere's a right way and a wrong way to handle this.
ReplyDeleteThe right way is to come into my office, set a bottle of Booker's bourbon on my desk, and say, "I like you, Dr. Bubba."
My reply will be, "I like you, too."
I remember the blog being posted and thinking that this would occur. (not mine, though my pseudonym is actually not tough to break if you know me)
ReplyDeleteOn that note, a friendly notification would be appreciated, I would think.
'Tisn't me, since I don't have an individual blog.
ReplyDeleteMy attitude toward this has been evolving. When I joined CM, I set up a completely separate gmail address for Cassandra, and engaged in minimal linking to my real-name gmail address (anyone who got into my real-name gmail could find some initial correspondence with the moderators, but I decided not to do a backup email address or phone #, and was glad of that after blogger's screwup on what did and didn't display about a year ago). One of these days I'm going to accidentally post here using my real-name google account (which I avoided setting up in blogger for a long while for just that reason, and then accidentally did a few weeks ago, even adding Cassandra as my display name before realizing why my profile was empty. The display name on that account is now really mysterious, not quite "Madame X," but close to it, but I may eventually need to change it to some version of my real name if I want to comment elsewhere). When and if I do accidentally post in my own name, I will email the RGMs in a panic, apologize for breaking the Rules of Misery, and ask them to delete the comment. And hope I didn't sound too much like Cassandra in that particular comment.
But despite those precautions, I strongly suspect that some colleagues read here, and that some of them may recognize me, or suspect they do. Of course, as WhatLadder points out, they may instead be suspecting some other colleague of being me, er, Cassandra, and/or someone in some institution hundreds of miles away may be convinced hir colleague is Cassandra. Neither our situations nor our personalities are probably as unique as we think. That doesn't tremendously concern me, but I am aware of it, and probably self-censor just a bit as a result. Since I'm not tenured (or tenurable), I think it's wise to maintain deniability to all colleagues, and I will (though a few friends from church now know about this place, and my participation; reactions have been neutral to positive). I also don't log in as Cassandra from school. And for reasons Fab recently mentioned, I don't think my students should be able to find or identify me here (or identify themselves, though there the "you're not as unique as you think" thing really kicks in. I don't post about truly unusual behavior on their part, but that doesn't rule out posting about much of what they do -- not even, sadly, suicide). I do generally time-shift at least a bit when writing about student behavior.
If someone I didn't know at all figured out who I was using an internet trail, as Conan did, I think I'd appreciate a heads-up email. And it would definitely be less creepy if it came from that person's real-name email address.
My brother recognized my writing style. However, I've yet to meet any local colleagues who follow CM.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't mind a heads-up if someone figured out who I was. It probably wouldn't be that hard for someone who knows me - my blog is easy enough to identify me by if you read enough of it, or possibly even an attentive reader here. I try not to say anything under my pseudonym that I wouldn't be willing to stand up and admit to writing if asked, but the illusion of anonymity can be pretty compelling.
ReplyDeleteA pseudonym, as ahistoricality points out, should be used for "Candor, informality, and vigor" - change of voice, not utter indiscretion or bad behaviour. Of course this blog exists precisely to discuss toxic colleagues and moronic administrators, exactly the people most likely to cause trouble if we were outed. I suppose the proper response if asked would be a serene "but what would make you think that was about you?"
The only person who knows about my involvement with this blog is my husband, and I don't have a personal blog. If I did it would have nothing to do with academia. I would have a blog about miniature trailers. It would be called "The Miniature Trailers Blog" and I would not rant about students or colleagues or anyone. I would just gush over pictures of miniature trailers.
ReplyDeletePersonal blogs and facebook are usually what really trip people up. Mostly because people yap too much and make stupid mistakes.
LOOKIT ME! LOOKIT ME!
You know the deal. Everyone wants an audience. Everyone thinks other people are just chomping at the bit to read about them and their lives. It's one big internet circle-jerk out there. You read my blog and tell me how wonderful I am, and I will read your blog and tell you how wonderful you are.
Except I don't have a blog, and you having one is probably more an indicator of not-wonderfulness.
My SI is also a poster on here, but for weeks, neither of us knew the others' usernames. My SI still forgets sometimes and will email me a link to a CM posting of mine saying, "Hey, here's someone who had a similar experience to yours!"
DeleteAnd, by miniature trailers, do you mean the kinds you can sleep in? If so, I'd read that blog!
DeleteI'd want to know, sure.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'll admit I've tried, once or twice, to follow up on a clue dropped here or there on this blog and crack an identity. But I've never cared enough or stuck with it long enough to figure anyone out. And I'd never "out" anyone even if I did. I might write to them.
I use a particular browser only for CM. That way, the particular user name and password don't get replaced by info from another account. I can't forget to log in correctly because there is only one login for that browser.
A comment from Conan.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your thoughts, everyone. I've sent an e-mail to the poster in question. Frod, it's an honor to be smacked down by you. EMH: sorry to alarm you -- Sometimes a Star Trek reference is just a Star Trek reference and not a coded message. If it's you there'll be a message in your inbox with Conan in the subject line. Bubba, what an excellent idea. There's a conference coming up in my poster's vicinity and I've offered to introduce myself with a bottle in hand if I go. Conan.