Since first time blogging, I discouraged anonymity and anonymous blogging. I call this attitude irresponsible - if you fear the heat dont enter the kitchen., and be a good kid. I wrote several posts on the important of clear identity for any blogger to earn credibility of whatever one writes in his or her respective blogs.
There are times when clear identity is not obligatorily required, and anonymity is forgiven and understood by the readers.
There are many instances where scientific writings/bloggings will automatically earn you credibility and honour you deserve… But a lot of examples in which writing scientifically is not enough. Readers and common sense need to know what position you stand for. Credibility more often than not is very much to do with whether there’s self-interest involve or not.
But there are times where clear identity is a must and anonymity is a waste of time:
… there’re some other topics in which clarity of identity is a must unless you’re a careless person who dont need the so-called credible ‘awards.’ What kind of topics that needs clarity of identity? (a) Religion; (b) Politics; (c) Minority/majority issue [etc]..
Even worse, anonymous blogger is a liability for bloggers as a whole as their anonymity might be used to downgrade other bloggers- with clear identity -in bad lights as it’s the case with Roy Suryo’s allegation that Indonesian bloggers are just “a bunch of liars because they are never even have the gut to use their true name.
Now, look at this article written by an apparently an Obama’s campaign volunteer. Before making his points, he starts his piece with clear identity to make his case stronger and more credible:
There has been a lot of speculation that Barack Obama might win the election due to his better “ground game” and superior campaign organization.
I had the chance to view that organization up close this month when I canvassed for him. I’m not sure I learned much about his chances, but I learned a lot about myself and about this election.
Let me make it clear: I’m pretty conservative. I grew up in the suburbs. I voted for George H.W. Bush twice, and his son once. I was disappointed when Bill Clinton won, and disappointed he couldn’t run again.
I encouraged my son to join the military. I was proud of him in Afghanistan, and happy when he came home, and angry when he was recalled because of the invasion of Iraq. I’m white, 55, I live in the South and I’m definitely going to get a bigger tax bill if Obama wins. [....]
That’s precisely the point I made here when I said:
…neutrality & objectivity is a one way ticket towards credibility. Yet, both are an impressionist in nature. Readers need to be convinced that you’re in a neutral position when writing on those topics.
How do readers know that you are in a neutral position? The answer is your identity. Generally, neutrality and objectivity very much related to self-criticism (against your own religion, community, political party, etc).
So, when someone known for his/her closeness to a political party, say PKS, and he/she criticises some of PKS’ policy, certainly his/her criticism has the merit to be heard; and obviously such kind of criticism has credibility. On the contrary, anonymity on this regard will have many interpretations: one migh think that you are from some other political party and hence it’s common practice to attack other parties.
Siip
tambah pinter aku berselancar di blpg Mas Fatih
Salam dari Saya Muhammad Al Fatih..
mas fatih, saya sepenuhnya kurang sepakat jika anonimitas para blogger berarti sebagai bentuk sikap yang tak bertanggungjawab. dalam dunia penulisan, banyak penulis menggunakan nama anonim, dan tulisan mereka berkualitas dan yang penting tidak menghasut.
banyak alasan penulis atau blogger menggunakan nama samaran atau memlih untuk anonim. salah satunya, mungkin, karena mereka ingin “mengahajar lawan” tanpa menunjukkan mukanya. Atau karena faktor kemanan yang tidak mendukung seseorang untuk menyampaikan pendapatnya, sehingga menggunakan nama samaran adalah pilihan terbaik untuk tetap menyuarakan pendapatnya atas persoalan di sekitarnya.
di blog saya, saya memilih menggunakan anonim dan saya berani bertanggungjawab atas informasi yang saya tulis di blog.
maaf, url kurang lengkap. blog saya http://usahaonline.net. berisi seputar peluang bisnis internet yang insya alloh mencerahkan, bukan sekadar iming-iming cepat kaya dengan ngeblog. sekalian promosi, hehehe… suwon mas. oh ya mas, ada beasiswa s2 di india atau di pakistan nggak mas. awal tahun depan insya alloh saya bisa wisuda dan ingin melanjutkan s2, studi komunikasi aka jurnalime, sastra, filsafat (timur, especially). suwon mas. salam dari Kota Seamarang.
komentar perdana. Motivasi dalam menulislah yang akan menentukan, kebebaran bertanggung jawab memang harus ditanamkan kepada blogger2 indonesia agar cita rasa blogger indonesia dapat tercium khalayak ramai didunia..thanks atas share nya
memang bagus kita guna sebenar, tulus ikhlas bawa kejayaan..
just be your self with or without your real name
oh come on. give it a break. this is becoming more of an obsession than just a recurring topic.
what are you going to do? implement RUU anonimitas blogger?
credibility is not determined by mere identity.
i dont know if you’re familiar with Fox News.
its an American News Network owned by billionare Rupert Murdoch. You’d think it would be a credible news source. After all, its a news network. They’re supposed to be “fair and balanced”. Right? You’re supposed to trust the press, right? Think again.
Some people, and often times institutions, use their credibility to feed the public with false information. In this case, its even more dangerous as these lies can be easily turned into facts. All this due to the person/institution’s credibility.
Now, THAT is irresponsible.
Also, since when does one have to be neutral on the subjects of politics and religion to be a credible resource?
Atheist Sam Harris studied Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. He knows more about these religions than the so-called pious do. Are his criticisms of other religions invalid because he’s an atheist?
You see, Fatih,
it is not
identity=neutrality=credibility. Thats a big error.
Just because you have your name tattooed on your forehead doesn’t mean that you’re credible.
Take Roy Suryo.
#mmm…, you seem to be an ‘ol guy with new name. CMIIW.
calculate this:
which one is better between [anonymous+good writing] with [real identity+ good writing]? to me the latter is better. why?
also compare which is better between
[anonymous blogger/false identity] + controversial writing] with [true-identity blogger + controversial writing]? again the latter is better.
Fair comparison will end up in fair result and judgment.
simple as that.
what keeps me wonder to no end is that: most bloggers who tend to use and defend anonymity come from similar background. a background that pride itself with bravery and “honor”.
in my book, writing with false name/ anonymity is not commensurate with bravery
ummm…yeah i dont know what you’re talking about. i’m old, yes. but i don’t hang out here.
you’re looking at the equation from the wrong angle. and by the looks of it, you’re going to be frustrated for a long long time.
and this talk about bravery and honor is really quite funny. your holier-than-thou attitude is getting more amusing by the day.
what it boils down to is that good writing is good writing, regardless of who you are/claim to be.
so what if its controversial+false identity/anonymos?
simply attack the writing, not the man!
getting so wound up on the issue of anonymity is like getting side-tracked from the real issue.
you’re missing the point.
identity on the net is worthless unless you’re desperate to launch a personal attack against someone and you just can’t find any info.
#*smile* i enjoy writing this blog and any idea which comes up in it. you seem never or hardly visit big blogs/bloggers outthere in us or europe. none of the big & respected bloggers are anonymous. meaning good writing is a must to gain some respect but is NOT enough. btw, do you have a blog?
I think it is important to social bookmarking blog, but for commercial blog is dependent on the person. Preferences people vary in this case
Hi, Fatih
I’m glad that I’ve finally found this site. Think I have to thank you for making some time, efforts, energy and patience to create this such an informative and interesting site. Hopefully there are more people interested to join you: educating the surrounding!
Keep up the goodwork, young man! Never mind the complaints coming to your e-home. The higher the tree grows, the stronger the wind it faces! Hidup anak muda Indonesia!
#thank Erita. don’t worry about the disagreement. i “enjoy” it too.
Accordings to me, it’s depend on himself (blogger). The most important is the quality of contents.