Monday, December 03, 2007

Slipping into anonymity

Hello there. I've been going through an 'oh, I wish I'd started an anonymous blog' phase. It usually happens when I remember that it's on the internet and definitely not a limited conversation between a few selected people, which it often feels like with blogging. I'm fed up with trying to vet what I write, so it's not about actual people who don't know they're being written about, or work stuff that might annoy someone, or my PhD research before it's published (which would be extremely stupid, from a career point of view).

I know you can't really go backwards and slip into anonymity when you've been doing a blog for a year, as some people obviously know who you are, which I don't mind anyway. In an attempt to shrug off my foul mood and cover my tracks slightly, I've changed my profile, rather than deleting the actual blog, which I was sorely tempted to do earlier. I really liked the idea of starting completely afresh, but I resisted it this time.

I think all this was prompted by wondering what I'd be doing in a year's time, and whether whatever I've written on the blog would be appropriate for whatever I might be doing then... or what I want to do. Would I want my departmental manager or future employer reading what I'd written about eyebrows or rat milk or the X Factor??? Who knows. It's that annoying potential conflict between all the different parts of your life that get all mixed up on-line. As it's a bit difficult trying to predict the future and I'm not exactly known for being psychic, I'll keep it like this for now. I don't suppose even the Christmas Cavalcade of Clairvoyants that my mum and Auntie Ig went to see at the weekend would have had an answer either.

9 comments:

dickiebo said...

If you decide to leave us Claire, I shall definitely have to ask for alimony. 'Cos it just ain't fair.

Annette said...

No please don't go.
I wouldn't worry about anything you've wrote, it can't be as bad as some of mine!!!
I have written while not thinking straight,I ranted on and on, and then I deleted it. I was embarrased by it!!
But this is what these blog sites are for, aren't they?
To let your feelings out.

Please don't go.

Roses said...

Humpf. It's bad enough to lose one blogger due to pressure from work, I don't want to lose you too.

Besides, I'd hardly say that you've written anything shocking, inflammatory, defamatory or actually anything in bad taste.

Claire said...

Thank you all for being nice. I'm just completely knackered, and really sick of working all the time and spreading myself between jobs and studying.

I've got a lot resting on my flipping PhD being finished soon, with some really good 'outputs' (publications, exhibitions, whatever). It's important so I can get a better permanent job, which are fairly non-existent in Higher Education in reality...

I'm just worrying a bit at the moment about work stuff, as I've invested so much time/effort/money in it, and don't want to mess it up. This bloody career-changing thing is definitely no soft option.

Anyway, moan over for now! I felt better when I'd got rid of the details in my profile too, so I guess I can almost say what I like now. Dickiebo, Annette and Roses, thanks again.

dickiebo said...

Just a thought, Claire. If you're not sure about one or more of your previous blogs, due to future employment, you might want to simply delete your Archives.

deb said...

I'm a bit late catching up on this! Last night I shortened my profile. I was feeling weird about it, a bit too 'exposed' or something. Odd how we can go along without thinking about such things for awhile and then all of a sudden it seems the most pressing matter.

I look forward to reading more, Claire. Don't go away!

Claire said...

Dickiebo - I've deleted nearly all the jewellery stuff now, so that should set my mind at rest until I get things published.

Deb - I was feeling like that too. I had a look at Facebook recently, as a PhD-related forum had been set up, but the whole thing just filled me with horror at the prospect of putting yet more personal info up on the web. I won't be re-visiting it in the near future, as I can't see the benefit for me, just more on-line time-wasting and occasional anxiety about personal privacy.

Thanks for reading my stuff, by the way!

Katy Swift said...

Glad to see you staying. It's nice to pop by and see how stuff is going.

The thing is, we all have opinions about stuff, especially things that we watch or are aware of. I don't think you've ever written anything that could be considered vaguely "dodgy", "unprofessinal" or any other questionable trait. You're just Claire and that's why we're here.

Claire said...

Thank you, Hottie!!