private life

Blogging: Authenticity vs Anonymity

14/06/2015


I've been thinking about this subject lately and I would like to hear from you guys.

Getting on-line, eventually through a blog, vlog or any other that gives you plenty of exposure, is quite a delicate matter.

When choosing a way to present yourself to others,  you can decide either to build a virtual identity with no real name or details about your personal life, or to turn yourself public and share your life just as it is, in a transparent way.

If the first might lead to some lack of authenticity and - perhaps - empathy from others or make you feel too distant from your public, the second might make them way too close and more difficult for you to control what part of your life comes out public.

So how much about your true self do you share on-line?
Is it really worth giving up your anonymity? 

From the moment you decide to bring your true identity on-line, how do you actually control the way your life gets exposed?

I must confess this matter scares me a bit. We all have our little secrets, those details about ourselves that we would prefer to keep private. They don't need to be huge secrets, they are just private. How bad would that be if one day you find out they are not that private any more? Specially in the Internet, where we tend to express ourselves a bit too much.

At the same time, how can you create another identity and bring authenticity to it? Wouldn't you feel a bit of emptiness around all that? Wouldn't you feel like ignoring your true self?

In the end of the day, which one would you pick? 
Authenticity or Anonymity?