4 ms·

I have a blog and it becoming popular ruined joy of it for me. It's not that popular, but it does get traffic and it's associated to my real name so I have to c

by kypro 4y ago

I have a blog and it becoming popular ruined joy of it for me. It's not that popular, but it does get traffic and it's associated to my real name so I have to consider what I write and the quality of it. I wrote a post several years ago about my struggles with being autistic. I didn't think much of it at the time - I just wanted to vent a bit and I had been using my blog for that since I was a teenager. I applied for a job a couple of weeks after I wrote that post and I was asked during an interview how I thought my autism might impact my work. I was confused at first because I never disclosed that information to them, but perhaps understandably they Googled my name and found my blog at the top of Google. I started my blog back in 2010 when people didn't care so much about anonymity online. The idea that an employer might check your social media or Google your name was still quite new back then, whereas today I'd guess around 80% of the places I apply to seem to Google my name before conducting an interview. In hindsight I wish I kept the blog anonymous, but there's also technical content on there which I'm proud of and want associated to myself. Either way I'm now in a difficult position where I can't really use my blog candidly any more because I have to consider it more as an extension of my CV. If you want to express yourself I'd keep it strictly anonymous. If you want to write technical content which you want associated with yourself you should probably do that somewhere else and never mix the two. Having a blog at [firstname][lastname].[TLD] where you express anything personal, especially if that includes political views or thoughts on cultural events is probably not a good idea in this day and age. Arguably even anonymous blogs that discuss politics are dangerous.

meerita 4y ago
I had the most visited blog in the spanish blogosphere and I also lost complete interest after it became so popular. I must say Twitter helped to migrate my posting and killing my blog and my day to day job also ruined my desire to writing posts.
- nottrobin 4y ago
  This is really interesting - didn't you try to capitalise on your popularity? Monetise it somehow? Or use it to influence the conversations you care about in your industry etc? I'm scared of backlash, but I think it's also kind of my dream to have that sort of influence. But I can well believe that I couldn't handle it or take advantage of it in practice.
  - meerita 4y ago
    I've got nice jobs but nothing else.
lpapez 4y ago
What country are you in? In EU you have a "right to be forgotten" and you can ask Google to remove you from the search
kixiQu 4y ago
> Having a blog at [firstname][lastname].[TLD] where you express anything personal, especially if that includes political views or thoughts on cultural events is probably not a good idea in this day and age. I see a number of people express this opinion that surprises me; I'd love to know the demographics/background/media consumption of people who would/wouldn't agree with it.
- nottrobin 4y ago
  I feel like you have opinions here - that you think certain sorts of groups are more likely to be scared than others. I'm sure that's right, but wondering who you have in mind. As a straight, white, fairly well-off, more or less neurotypical man, I'm sure I should be in all the privileged groups and so should feel pretty empowered. Maybe that's why I feel like I should be able to blog under my own name. But I completely understand what OP is saying. I definitely have the fear, and I've toyed with the idea of having an anonymous persona before.
- pilgrimfff 4y ago
  Seems self evident. Anything you say without anonymity may be used against you by future employers or future Twitter mob equivalents at any point. It's impossible to guess what subset of appropriate speech in 2022 will still be appropriate years or decades from now.
  - nottrobin 4y ago
    I understand the concern, but also we do all have to act as ourselves in public life in many ways - any one of your identifiable actions could always come back to bite you. If you want to build any kind of public profile or have much influence in life you kinda have to face this risk head-on to some extent.
  - kixiQu 4y ago
    I don't buy that that's true of "anything" and I wish there were more quantitative data on who perceives that to be the case and why. (Also, it seems like holders of this opinion think there is non-zero risk but also zero upside. This is strange to me and seems like it must have to do with the specific views people are biting their tongues on.)
nottrobin 4y ago
> I was asked during an interview how I thought my autism might impact my work God that makes me angry. Of course I don't know what jurisdiction you're in, but the company should be sued for this. Of course I know it's easy to say this in theory but most people can't afford litigation. But really that should be extremely against the law. You should at least name and shame the company. On the anonymous thing - yes I know what you mean. I really struggle with overcoming the fear of publishing any significant opinions as myself. But I also find maintaining any sort of anonymity to be a very daunting thought. I'm such an open person generally, and I like that about myself, it would be very strange for me to try to hide like that.
- sockaddr 4y ago
  The company should be sued for asking about something the candidate chose to publicly disclose and write on a blog presumably intended to be read by people interested in knowing more about them? Really?
  - agentdrtran 4y ago
    "how do you think becoming pregnant will affect your ability to work?" is also illegal for similar reasons.
    - nottrobin 4y ago
      Yes, oddly simply knowing something about someone doesn't actually give you the right to discriminate against them.
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
pcthrowaway 4y ago
Honestly it's the same with everything online nowadays. I have an HN account associated with my name, but I'm incredibly sparing with what I post from it. 99% of my HN comments are from an anonymous account. If someone googles my name and finds my HN account they'll see a comment once every month or two where I share things I know about my languages of choice; they definitely won't find my thoughts on social justice, tech culture, etc. It makes me as bland and safe as possible to prospective employers (though I do publicize some of my interests/hobbies from my "doxxed" accounts at least)

by kypro 4y ago

meerita 4y ago

I had the most visited blog in the spanish blogosphere and I also lost complete interest after it became so popular. I must say Twitter helped to migrate my posting and killing my blog and my day to day job also ruined my desire to writing posts.

nottrobin 4y ago
This is really interesting - didn't you try to capitalise on your popularity? Monetise it somehow? Or use it to influence the conversations you care about in your industry etc? I'm scared of backlash, but I think it's also kind of my dream to have that sort of influence. But I can well believe that I couldn't handle it or take advantage of it in practice.
- meerita 4y ago
  I've got nice jobs but nothing else.

lpapez 4y ago

What country are you in? In EU you have a "right to be forgotten" and you can ask Google to remove you from the search

kixiQu 4y ago

> Having a blog at [firstname][lastname].[TLD] where you express anything personal, especially if that includes political views or thoughts on cultural events is probably not a good idea in this day and age. I see a number of people express this opinion that surprises me; I'd love to know the demographics/background/media consumption of people who would/wouldn't agree with it.

nottrobin 4y ago
I feel like you have opinions here - that you think certain sorts of groups are more likely to be scared than others. I'm sure that's right, but wondering who you have in mind. As a straight, white, fairly well-off, more or less neurotypical man, I'm sure I should be in all the privileged groups and so should feel pretty empowered. Maybe that's why I feel like I should be able to blog under my own name. But I completely understand what OP is saying. I definitely have the fear, and I've toyed with the idea of having an anonymous persona before.
pilgrimfff 4y ago
Seems self evident. Anything you say without anonymity may be used against you by future employers or future Twitter mob equivalents at any point. It's impossible to guess what subset of appropriate speech in 2022 will still be appropriate years or decades from now.
- nottrobin 4y ago
  I understand the concern, but also we do all have to act as ourselves in public life in many ways - any one of your identifiable actions could always come back to bite you. If you want to build any kind of public profile or have much influence in life you kinda have to face this risk head-on to some extent.
- kixiQu 4y ago
  I don't buy that that's true of "anything" and I wish there were more quantitative data on who perceives that to be the case and why. (Also, it seems like holders of this opinion think there is non-zero risk but also zero upside. This is strange to me and seems like it must have to do with the specific views people are biting their tongues on.)

nottrobin 4y ago

> I was asked during an interview how I thought my autism might impact my work God that makes me angry. Of course I don't know what jurisdiction you're in, but the company should be sued for this. Of course I know it's easy to say this in theory but most people can't afford litigation. But really that should be extremely against the law. You should at least name and shame the company. On the anonymous thing - yes I know what you mean. I really struggle with overcoming the fear of publishing any significant opinions as myself. But I also find maintaining any sort of anonymity to be a very daunting thought. I'm such an open person generally, and I like that about myself, it would be very strange for me to try to hide like that.

sockaddr 4y ago
The company should be sued for asking about something the candidate chose to publicly disclose and write on a blog presumably intended to be read by people interested in knowing more about them? Really?
- agentdrtran 4y ago
  "how do you think becoming pregnant will affect your ability to work?" is also illegal for similar reasons.
  - nottrobin 4y ago
    Yes, oddly simply knowing something about someone doesn't actually give you the right to discriminate against them.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

pcthrowaway 4y ago

Honestly it's the same with everything online nowadays. I have an HN account associated with my name, but I'm incredibly sparing with what I post from it. 99% of my HN comments are from an anonymous account. If someone googles my name and finds my HN account they'll see a comment once every month or two where I share things I know about my languages of choice; they definitely won't find my thoughts on social justice, tech culture, etc. It makes me as bland and safe as possible to prospective employers (though I do publicize some of my interests/hobbies from my "doxxed" accounts at least)