Lately, it seems like every single day someone who I know finds out about my blog. Now, EVERYONE knows, besides the people who I work with. I need to keep it that way for now…
I say that I’m no longer anonymous because all of my friends know, and because I am easy to search on Google. I’ve also started posting more and more pictures everyday. I also plan on sharing our engagement photos once those are ready. The engagement photos will be my first official photos released on my blog that show my face. I know, you guys cannot wait at all. The suspense is killing you!
I am completely joking of course 🙂 Also, sprinkled throughout this post are comments of what readers said in my last Should I still be anonymous post.
The other day, we were over at W’s friend’s house and his friend said “Hey Michelle, I heard you have some writing thing going on.” And also recently, someone ambushed me (of course I am using that term loosely!) and showed me my blog on their phone. ON THEIR PHONE! What was I supposed to say?
And then just last week, I received an email from a reader, and she was telling me that my blog is helpful. We then started talking back and forth and she actually went to the same high school as me, and she lives in the same town as me! Small world, right? I feel like I have nowhere to run now!
Everyone knows about my blog now. W’s parents asked me for my blog URL the other day, and my friends have found it all also. Probably doesn’t help that you can just type in “Michelle finance blog” and it’s on the first page!
I have W to blame for all of this.
He kept blabbing to everyone and everyone kept asking him for hints about my blog. Of course he gave enough hints and now everyone knows about it! Even though everyone knows, I honestly don’t think too many people read it. Not too many people have really brought up anything that I have talked about in a blog post.
Haha, but that is a good thing. I like not feeling like I am always hiding from everyone. Yes, I do not have any direct pictures of my face up yet, but I still want to be safe when it comes to my job. However, I am friends with many bloggers on Facebook and on my personal Instagram, so many of you already know what I look like. And most of you already know my last name.
I was anonymous in the beginning because I used my blog as a way to vent about the things going on in my life – the passing of my dad, the horrible things someone else in my family did, and so on. It was easy to talk about things on here, but now I’m moving past all of that, so it only seems normal to be public now.
Positives of being more public:
- I’m not as mysterious. I’ve heard a lot of people say that they would rather read a blog where the person is open about who they are. Well, this is something that I am working on. I can’t wait until I make the 100% freelancing switch and am then able to post awesome pictures of myself everyday 😛
- I don’t feel like I’m hiding from my friends and family. This is number one on my list. I felt like I was living a double life for so long. Now, I talk about my blog so often that they are probably annoyed.
- It’s more fun! And it’s easier to blog publicly. I’m no longer trying to hide things that could potentially reveal who I am.
Risks of being public with my blog:
- Financials are now public. Do I really want to post our net worth on my blog anymore? What about my extra income updates and things about our jobs?
- Certain things that I’ve said about my family and the situations that I gone through have been edited. I would hate for you-know-who to see what I’ve written. Even though she is in the wrong and has done absolutely horrible things to me, and I am in the right, I would hate to go down that direction and open everything back up. Right now, I am just moving on going forward in life…
- Nothing is private. This is a given. Everyone will know everything about my life now!
- Of course, there is always the risk that my work will find my blog and read my passion or money post. That would be an awkward conversation…
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Yeah it does make me nervous!
Yay! I love that you included a screen cap of my old comment- haha! I totally remember leaving that. 🙂
Haha thanks for always leaving awesome comments on my blog.
I have told a couple family members and one friend about my blog that is it. I have a picture of myself up so I am not exactly anonymous but I don’t go around telling people either. It’s something I still feel a little self conscious about.
This is how I feel too.
That must feel pretty liberating! And a little scary.
We’re obviously pretty public, but we haven’t told anyone we know about it. We’ve made sure to not attach our personal social media to our site. We’ve only slipped once or twice with accidentally posting something to a wrong account, but we were quick to delete it. That being said, one of my sisters randomly found our blog. Needless to say, it was a really weird conversation. We enjoy our semi-anonymity, but those days might soon be gone.
Haha I bet that was a weird convo!
I started out anonymous, but that changed when everyone was wondering what I always was so busy or doing research on. Then i spilled the beans, and i dont think most people that know i blog check it anymore anyways.
Yup! This is exactly why I had to start telling people.
I think it’s pretty brave to go from anonymous to public! Sometimes I wish that I was anonymous so that I could vent more! 😉 Oh, and the other day a friend from work was like “OMG I FOUND YOUR BLOG!” which is fine I guess, but I did ask her not to share it with anyone else. We’re pretty good friends so I’m sure it’ll be fine. In other news, can’t wait to see your engagement pics!
It’s crazy how easy it is to find blogs!
I’m a bit of a hybrid here. I use my first name (just sort of came out) and regularly post pictures of myself, but currently I’m not disclosing my last name. Most of my friends and family know about my blog so it prevents me from discussing anything too personal. However, when I write for other sites (under my real name) I can’t link back to my blog without disclosing who I am. Feeling a bit of a tug-of-war about whether or not to just go ahead and start using my full name. You raise some really great points in this post, Michelle so it’s more for me to think about!
Yeah it’s definitely hard to decide what to do.
We’re not anonymous to friends and family (our blog is on our personal FB pages) but we are a tiny bit anonymous on the blog. That is, a dedicated reader would be able to figure out what our last names are and what university we attend, but we try not to say those names outright because we don’t want searches to find out blog. But aside from our professional associations we don’t care much who can connect us to the blog. We’re pretty open people, generally.
That’s great Emily!
Eeek! You’ve been outed. Sounds like you are taking it in stride. I’m kind of the same. I’m not anonymous on my blog just in that people don’t know the link or where to find it even though a lot of them know that I blog. If I get outed I’d be okay but for as long as it’s meant to be a secret I will keep it that way. Can’t wait to see yo face!! : )
Haha thanks CeCe.
I’d say that work and my coworkers are a good reason to not share my blog. They know me, but they don’t really know me and I’d like it to stay that way. At least for now. Also, I agree with your passion or money post, that would be super awkward.
Yup, very awkward!
I’m mostly public. I haven’t really put up many pictures yet. Most of my friends and family know about. Half of my co-workers do as well. I didn’t want everybody to know because they may try to make me do more work lol.
Hahaha you are too funny!
I was faced with that difficult decision when writing the About Me page on my blog. I struggled with letting the universe (including my parents) know that I had declared bankruptcy over 20 years ago and didn’t know if I should let the cat out of the bag about my net worth.
I decided to just bite the bullet and come clean, be honest and transparent. For me, it was a show of good faith. I wanted people to know that you can go through the first half of your life making stupid decisions and come out the other side wiser, happier and wealthier.
I’ve only been blogging now for a little over three months. So far, no one in my family has even brought these two facts up. I don’t know if I’ve made a fatal mistake by revealing so much but time will tell.
Good luck on your big reveal!
Ree
That’s good that you were honest about it. I’m sure you will be fine.
I am mostly anonymous. Although most people know my first name and even a few know my last name, most people don’t know what I look like or even what state I live in. I am uber paranoid so I keep things that way for a lot of reasons. My bf and one other friend know the URL to my blog but a lot of my friends know that I blog. I like it that way actually. I don’t know if I will ever “come out of the closet” completely, though.
I never thought that I would come completely out. However, now that I want to be a freelancing 100% of the time, I feel that it is needed.
That will be great to finally see some pics and put a face to the name. I’m sure the engagement photos look beautiful.
Thanks!
My man does that same thing—drives me crazy! He says he does it cause he’s proud of me, but I’m not really wanting everyone I know to read. Oh, well…more blog hits? Can’t wait to see the engagement photos!
It does drive me crazy!