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  • Pseudonymity and Authenticity

    By Dean Dad April 2, 2008 10:23 pm

    Dr. Crazy has a terrific post about the differences between pseudonymity and anonymity. To oversimplify, pseudonymity attaches a persona to the writing, where anonymity doesn't. Over time, a sustained pseudonym becomes a character, an alter ego, generating reader expectations of relative consistency. Anonymous posts are more like shouts in the dark. So the folks who've read my stuff as Dean Dad for a while have probably developed some sense of what to expect - whether good or bad - and would find certain
    things out of character. Anonymous posts can't be out of character, by definition.

    For obvious reasons, I simply couldn't write some of the things I write if I attached my real life name to them. They aren't scandalous or slanderous or secretive, but they're controversial, and 'controversial' is a kiss of death in administration. What this says about the true state of open debate in higher education, I'll leave as an exercise for the reader.

    There's also the annoying truth that most of my readers, if they saw my real name, would react with something like "who?" Sometimes I envy my persona's audience. In blogland, nobody has to read you; you earn readers, or not, by what you put out there. It comes much closer to a real exchange than does most interaction in higher ed, which is riddled with the distortions of prestige. (The time I walked around at my scholarly discipline's annual conference with a cc nametag made this painfully clear.)

    Dean Dad isn't a perfect representation of me. He's nicer than I am, more patient, and sometimes a little stuffy. I'd like to loosen him up a little, but the combination of my limits as a writer and the expectations that I've encouraged his readers to develop puts limits on that. Besides, if authenticity were the point, I wouldn't have needed to invent him in the first place. It's not about authenticity.

    And I think that's part of what makes some people uncomfortable about the pseudonyms. If you can't pin the tale on the author, then there's a greater burden on your judgment as a reader. Everything I've written about myself on the blog has been true, and the folks who know me IRL know that. But if you aren't one of those folks, you have to judge for yourself. Does it sound true? Does it hang together?

    That's where the persona can become restrictive. As Dr. Crazy noted, real people are complicated and contradictory in ways that personae usually aren't. Some things don't find their way onto the blog, for fear of muddling the persona. While that can be frustrating from time to time, it also forces a kind of focus. As a reader, I appreciate focus, so I take that deal.

    To reduce pseudonymity to a kind of cowardice is really to miss the point.

    Thanks, Dr. Crazy, for elevating the discussion.

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Comments on Pseudonymity and Authenticity

  • Saint Dean Dad : )
  • Posted by kgotthardt on April 3, 2008 at 9:25am EDT

  • Well, Dean Dad, I guess if I were a Dean I might use a fake name....but then again maybe not if I had job security. Then again, even without job security, maybe I STILL would not.

    I think you're right that having to use a fake name says something about discourse, not only in higher ed but in other industries and throughout the country. But I also think the more people come out and use their real names, the more we will expect to be protected, laws will change, and authenticity will become the necessary norm to facilitate communication.

    Having been slammed and threatened because of my blog, I can understand why people might avoid my approach like the plague. But I think it's time for bloggers to "come out." Why should we have to hide behind pseudonyms any more than we should have to hide in public places, the college, or the classroom? Why should we perpetrate the myth that instructors and academics are not human beings with lives outside of the classroom?

    As to your being more patient online than in real life, I doubt that. Being a Dean requires more patience than most of US have I would bet.

    Writing, like living, also depends on your mood. Some days you are more patient than others, just as you are with your kids. No one expects pure patience all the time--or at least they shouldn't if they are reasonable.

    I also find I sometimes a get a lot rantier on blogs than I do in real life. I let my anger out because for me, writing is an outlet. I've been known to call people "skinheads" online because I really feel they act that way--but that isn't something I would do to their face unless I had a cop standing next to me, especially given the reactions I get. In a blog, I don't need a cop to help me express my feelings in a safe environment--or at least I shouldn't.

    Finally, I think it's also important to write about the positive and funny things you encounter on the job or with your kids. That doesn't mean you are playing Saint. It means you are celebrating! So go for it, yes? And someday, use your own name. Be a real rebel. : )

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