Blogging Anonymously

We know that Blogger allows us to blog anonymously, by promising to never reveal our identity as a blog owner. This leads to mysterious scenarios, like when someone forgets the account that they used to create a blog, that they do own. And, it leads sometimes to tragic scenarios, like bloggers who don't have access to the back door email account, and can't prove blog ownership.

Even though Blogger allows us to pursue our anonymity, though, that doesn't guarantee absolute anonymity without effort. There are things that we still need to do, to ensure that our name / identity isn't connected with a given blog.

The most obvious strategy would be to publish your blog(s) as private, and disable indexing of the blog(s). This won't be 100% effective.

• Not all search engine spiders will respect the "NoIndex, NoFollow" directives.
• Not all bloggers want their blogs to be private, even if they don't want a personal and permanent connection with the blogs.
• Private blogs are not completely hidden from public view.

So, look at additional techniques.

First, remove the "About Me" gadget from the blogs. Either publish blogs without a native Blogger "About Me" gadget, or make up a custom one.

Second, remove the blogs from the "My Blogs" list in your Blogger profile, or don't share your profile at all.

If you're truly paranoid, you could transfer control of the blogs, to a secondary account that you own. If you do this, it would be wise to use a non GMail account, so you can avoid a Google cookie clash caused by trying to use two Google accounts simultaneously. And please, if you want to retain control of your blogs, use a valid non GMail email address, and keep control of the email address.

Finally, check behind yourself, carefully. Comb the contents of your blogs, and make sure that you don't inadvertently reveal any personal details. This may be an ongoing concern, as you publish any blog, anonymously or not.

Protect yourself. These are things that you have to do, for yourself.

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