Glenn Groux posted an important comment to one of my previous posts. I think it deserves a separate blog post, and hopefully we can generate some discussion around his questions. I think the questions would get different responses from different people, so please pass this on if you know anyone who may provide insight for Glenn. Here are some of his questions, with my answers:
what would happen if you started to blog anonymously instead, and posting to your creative blog when you feel comfortable to do so? Would it change how you blog? Would you be a bit less careful how you present your ideas?
I’ve been participating in online discussions since 1992, and the pattern of my life has led me to a point where I don’t feel the need to openly post things anonymously. I think it’s important to clarify the difference between Private and Anonymous. I think there is value in private journaling to track ideas and think out loud before presenting things to an audience. I don’t personally have a need for anonymous writing in the open. However, I recently attended a conference where one session attracted a large number of anonymous bloggers. These were mostly hobbyists who did not want their leisure pursuits to be confused with their professional identities. I also know genre fiction writers who prefer not to blend identities.
I keep my jentropy and injenuity identities separate, simply because they have different focus and audience and I can serve as an initial content filter. This is based on the assumption that most of my readers are not interested in both content areas. If they were more related, I probably wouldn’t bother separating them. I think if someone is considering anonymous open blogging, they need to ask themselves why. When I hear concerns about coworkers or employers reading venting, complaints or gossip, I have to ask if there are bigger issues. If you need to write to vent about others, complain, or gossip, put it in a private journal where you can work through the issues. Openly blogging these kinds of things is a kind of passive aggression and I would hope educators would not promote it as healthy activity.
I am interested in the potential for edublogging for creative expression? Particularly for helping adult literacy learners find and strengthen their own voices. Are there anonymous creative blogs aspiring writers can join, and practice the writing craft?
I’ve never quite been comfortable with the term, “edublogging,” possibly because I haven’t seen a clear definition of it. A blog is simply a publishing platform and I would consider the purpose of open publishing before deciding on blogging as the medium. Why are the adult literacy learners taking the course? What do you mean by finding and strengthening their voices? Is there an assumption that non-native English speakers haven’t found their voice? There are cultural issues at play with these learners and each class and student will bring different strengths and challenges. Consider cultural background and think beyond the language. What are the course objectives and how can blogging help achieve those? This is not an area of expertise for me, but I think if I were working on adult literacy, I would want to meet the learners in their preferred medium first. Are they storytellers, magazine readers, TV watchers, radio listeners, book readers, facebook users? Where are they already communicating? I would make it a priority to choose the medium in a way that allows the learner to maintain dignity. I hope people who work in this area will find the post and chime in here 
There are many creative writing communities online where you can create anonymous profiles and receive feedback on your work. Many of these have hidden pitfalls. I’ve found this type of community to be good for moral support and motivation, but lacking in critical evaluation and honest, professional feedback. I don’t find the need to post anonymously to sites like this, because I don’t really have anything to hide. Most published authors are very open about the quality of their early works and the lessons they’ve learned on their professional journey. On my own blog, I can see my learning quite evidently in just the few months I’ve been writing fiction. My style has changed and I’m finding my voice. I’m glad I can look back at earlier pieces and see the difference.
I hope my comments help, and I hope others join in the discussion. Thanks for starting the conversation here, Glenn!
6 Responses to “Response to Glenn and Discussion on Open Blogging”
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I struggle to aim for singular answers. I can see it makes sense as you have done to have different blogs to try out different voices or kinds of writing.
And there is a place for anonymous blogging (for personal safety, for writing very personal or whistle blower type stuff) yet IMHO I don’t really see much value in doing so just to “practice” for fear of ??? not being good?
But there’s another strand– I commented strongly at Barbara Ganleys’ blog when she mentioned thinking about starting a new blog to write more about local issues, hinting that she was somehow constrained at bgblogging to write about “edublogging” (your fave term).
All these bits of online presence, different blogs, twitter accounts flickr/youtube profiles, are not really distinct identities- they are all some facets of one person. I don;t see how a single blog defines what you can write about; I see my blog as being about me, not any topic, so if I stop writing about tech or weird photos and want to focus on turnips or shot glasses… well it’s all part of the flow of me. I don;t feel contrained by who I imagine the audience is.
The blog is me– I am not my blog.
Great points, Alan! I suppose it would be easier if people could just subscribe to categories in all blogs. It’s almost like picking your favorite pieces of a print periodical. Maybe we all just need to move over to magazine-style themes. I’m going to think about this some more.
Hello Jen,
Thank you for your response, and for stretching me to think further with your questions and comments.
You wrote: I think if someone is considering anonymous open blogging, they need to ask themselves why.
Many political and self-help forums require the use of an avatar, and bloggers who engage in therapeutic or self-help group blogging, or engage in edgy social commentary and public debate, blog anonymously in the open. The amount of potentially heated exchanges in such groups makes it a tough ethical area for edublogging – should educators prepare learners for participation in such venues?
I am doing independent studies for my Master’s on the subject of edublogging – and the big question is whether it has a place at all in education.
I can only draw from my own professional experience as an adult literacy educator in Northwest BC, where many learners are mature women over 35 and of First Nations descent. I have worked in a First Nations community, as well as in the small town of Prince Rupert. Many of these learners have access to computers, and engage family members using FaceBook, uploading photos, playing games, sharing comments, etc. I agreee that introducing blogs to these learners would require careful planning.
I want to distinguish between autonomous bloggers, who are very self-directed, adaptable, and independent, blogging for oneself, even in the absence of others’ feedback. They blog out in the open, yet really do not interact much with others.
The embedded blogger, on the other hand, requires interaction from others to remain motivated. They depend on the social banter, so they do not feel isolated.
But there is a question: should educators concern themselves with aiding students as private bloggers to become more open, and autonomous bloggers to become more social, and embedded bloggers to become more independent and self-directed? Should edublogging have as a goal the cultivation of students’ voices in these different venues?
In a sense, I am talking about edublogging occurring within a walled garden, within a place of safety.
I can see the benefits of blogging for many of the learners who have tried this option, and I have observed dramatic improvements in learners.
These are good thoughts and you’re exposing even more issues. I think a lot of it boils down to the issue of moving society toward more transparency, framed as such, rather than as violation of privacy. I worry about whistle-blower blogging turning to witch-hunt blogging. I’ve spent many years moderating parenting discussion groups and have seen members actively engage, regardless of level of transparency with identity. For example, one valuable contributor never revealed her full identity to members, but was highly respected. Others chose not to share images, or names of their children. Some, myself included, shared everything. Through the years, I opened and closed the privacy as needed, and it worked.
This is a big question:
I don’t know that I’m qualified to respond. I don’t think there’s a single answer, but I do think you need to dig deep into the purpose of eduction. There are deep social and ethical issues with all these questions.
I have multiple personality online, mainly for child protection. Felicity Bloomfield is my “grown-up” name, for M rated stories – and is also how I discuss serious/booooring issues such as mental illness. Louise Curtis is my child-safe persona, and she is currently attempting an intense get-rich-quick scheme by writing a two-month twitter tale (beginning 1 August AEST). HER blog (oh please oh please visit me/her) is at twittertales.wordpress.com
Using more than one persona to engage with others in different contexts has interesting implications for edublogging within walled gardens of schools. Especially in the area of creative/narrative writing.
This might a way to play roles of characters in a shared dialogue, where the use of ranting/raving/venting within a set role might be appropriate. as log as learners understand that staying in character involves such behaviour. Dramatic (edu)blogging could be introduced as an instructional strategy that practices the skills and attitudes taking on personae for professional blogging later.
My cat, Tigger, loves the outdoors, but is now indoors while recuperating from an accident. But he takes every opportunity to jump to the window sill, then jump down to the roof a few feet below, and get his outdoor space that way.
The educational blog is like a window sill with an open window. It provides limited choces of transparency, (a space to jump through and play) but with restrictions on where and how the learner can participate.
The trying out of multiple personae is intriguing as Louise suggests, as is the maintenance of a single sustained identity blog that Alan Levine suggests. Both have crucial implications for how to design instruction using blogs for students and their instructors.
My blog is primarily an academic blog, recording my progress in grad studies. There is a second fledgling blog emerging aimed at adult literacy I want kept separate, for most of the reasons Jen mentioned. A blog that provides instruction on computer literacy, blogging, and the web is an entirely different topic with a different audience that the academic blog.