Emerging Technologies

RE: What do you think of anonymous blogging?

andrenym00 — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 07:08:00 GMT

I let users post anonymously on my blog all the time. I like to here the difference in opinions, although i use captcha to avoid spam.t1

RE: What do you think of anonymous blogging?

MeganKeane — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 21:02:00 GMT

Nils, there are often legitimate safety concerns that lead some to blog anonymously, usually a situation where the blogger is prohibited in some ways from free speech (different countries have very different restrictions surrounding this).

I do see your point that you should be able to defend and stand behind anything you write on the web, anonymous or not.

soloruby, you raise a good point about different levels of anonymity. Both organizational bloggers and individual bloggers have to come to a decision on how much to reveal/conceal on a blog, content-wise, profile-wise, etc.

--Megan

RE: What do you think of anonymous blogging?

soloruby — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 18:37:00 GMT

There are a number of perfectly legitimate reasons to blog anonymously, and I don't know about it coming to an end. Latent semantic indexing is one way of making connections between content online but anonymous bloggers who leave no trace of their identity elsewhere are still shrouded in mystery. There's also the question of what constitutes anonymity. I could use my real name but with any other content regarding me on the web I'd still be technically "anonymous" -- a nobody. There are so many different levels of anonymity, too. Anonymous IP, Anonymous name, Anonymous profile...

RE: What do you think of anonymous blogging?

david.fillo — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 16:18:00 GMT

Here's what I would to if I want to blog anonymously.

1. Get a fake email.
2. Sign up a free blog at WordPress.com or Blogger.com
3. Write my posts using anonymous proxies such as proxyfreely.com or proxy305.com

And be sure what you reveal about yourself in your posts. This will take a while to find you.

RE: What do you think of anonymous blogging?

calculatepaypal — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 13:19:00 GMT

Why should anybody have to be anonym when blogging? If you cant stand for it..then dont write it!

Nils
PayPal fee Calculator

RE: What do you think of anonymous blogging?

MeganKeane — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 23:18:00 GMT

The days of anonymous blogging might be coming to an end. TechSoup blog reports on artificial intelligence being developed to track people on the Internet, based on how people write. This kind of tracking could have all kinds of implications for both individuals and organizations alike.

What do you think about increased monitoring of individuals online? What can nonprofits do about this?

--Megan

RE: What do you think of anonymous blogging?

matthewart — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 17:43:00 GMT

Identity theft can occur in MANY ways. In fact theft from an online source is rare although phishers are becoming a larger issue. The fact is, most identity theft occurs because:

1) people will put sensitive information into the trash.
2) people use a mailbox at the end of the driveway that isn't lockable. The mailbox, can be hit in two ways--theft of incoming mail and theft of outgoing mail.

I wrote a series of posts on Identity theft on my blog. If you are interested, a list of the posts can be found

HERE.

RE: What do you think of anonymous blogging?

jrankin — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 23:00:00 GMT

Anyone Interested in in online privacy should utilize privacy services like Ultimate Anonymity http://www.ultimate-anonymity.com using such a service allows one to surf anonymously without revealing personal info to sites you visit. they provide disposable NYMS (email addresses) to use for one time or multiple time uses such as signing up for a new service. Get your access then kill the NYM. You can even purcahse services using disposable anonymous Visa Debit cards setup under any name and address for COMPLETE privacy. Using this method completely emliminates the possibility of identity theft.

You can check out their products directly at http://www.ultimate-anonymity.com/products.htm

Happy surfing

RE: What do you think of anonymous blogging?

Jesse — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 01:40:00 GMT

This link has a good discussion about "Achieving Internet Anonymity." The discussion, from a weekly radio program, is provided in MP3 and transcribed in html, text and PDF formats. And there are links to TOR -- The Onion Router and Freenet

The expert is Steve Gibson, whose work you should probably know if you're into privacy and computer security; browse the website grc.com.

RE: Blogger Jailed for Defying Grand Jury Sets Record

Scoop0901 — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 22:00:00 GMT

Okay, the link didn't seem to work right now for that article. Is the guy a blogger or a journalist? Or a journalist -- someone working in the mainstream media -- who blogs for his employer?

A blogger isn't a journalist unless, of course, that blogger has credentials as a journalist. I spent more than 20 years as an investigative journalist, cops and courts reporter, and covered government to no end. These days, in my "free time" (whatever that is!), I do freelance writing for media outlets.

Blogger Jailed for Defying Grand Jury Sets Record"

wcook — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 00:55:00 GMT

Some of you may be following the story of Josh Wolf, a blogger who was jailed for refusing to hand over video footage of a protest to a grand jury.

An article in today's San Francisco Chronicle, Blogger Jailed for Defying Grand Jury Sets Record, reports that Wolf is now the journalist who has been imprisoned the longest in the United States on contempt of court charges.

I think that this case demonstrates the real relevance of the subject of anonymous blogging.

RE: What do you think of anonymous blogging?

Scoop0901 — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 21:54:00 GMT

inspiration2jms wrote:
Why are my blog anonymous? Because my Mother is still alive. My consideration and treatment of her has no relationship to how I was treated. I am not she, she is not me.
Just remember that America is a sue-happy society. Even blogging anonymously will not protect you if she ever hears of your blog and believes it to be her. Or if someone else reads it, believes it to be them you are writing about. Either way you will have to defend yourself. In the latter case, it would probably be quickly resolved that the person is NOT who you are blogging about, but then there's that "emotional" damage they could go after you on, claiming mental duress while they discovered it was not them you were attacking.

RE: What do you think of anonymous blogging?

inspiration2jms — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 15:58:00 GMT

I have two anonymous blogs. They serve their purpose quite well. I found this site looking for a computer program designer. I joined because the first several threads I read showed a deep concern from several members regarding education, self motivation tactics and self help. That is what my blogs are designed for.

You see I was not well loved in my life, especially as a child. As an example of how low my mother considered me, I was sick when I was very young, hospitalized on and off for over 2-1/2 years. When I was eight I had the opportunity to be tested by the local school so that I could be placed in a grade and begin my formal education. Mother would not allow it.

She did not know that a nurse had taught me the alphabet phonetically and that she continued to sneak books to me, as well as an aunt, after I was released.

I have never attended any school, yet I have a certificate as a junior chemist, I am an ordained minister that writes sermons for other ministers and I tutor a few college students that are not writers in creating their thesis'. My blogs are designed to show people that the only limits they have are those they place upon themselves.

Why are my blog anonymous? Because my Mother is still alive. My consideration and treatment of her has no relationship to how I was treated. I am not she, she is not me.

RE: What do you think of anonymous blogging?

MargaretBartley — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 19:26:00 GMT

There are times when people have information that the public would be better off knowing, but that to openly post that information would be a bad move, personally.

I doubt very much that no one who posted a comment here, saying they do not read anonymous postings, has verified that none of the articles they've read on line were written under a pseudomym. It happens all the time.

The real problem our assistant in the example would have is getting anyone to know the article exists.

She'd have to post links to the article everywhere, and hope that someone picks it up. That's where the tricky part comes in.

It probably wouldn't be so tough to find someone to pay to put the article up, using the techniques listed. It could even be done for hire. Hire a college kid to post a blog entry.

The tricky part would then be posting to bulletin boards, trying to get people to notice the article. That is a very tedious effort, and it would be tempting to short-circuit the process.

I would like to know more about proxy servers, and the technical aspect of this. Never know when it might come in handy!

RE: What do you think of anonymous blogging?

jp0006 — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 12:48:00 GMT

I agree that i wouldn't add to the blogoshere clutter because there is so much to read out there but having thought of it I might add the obvious that in public internet sites one might be advised to be aware of any camera survaillance that most libraries and Universities that I know of have. Personally i don't beleive either that there is anyway to stay annoymous blogging on the internet.