Borderless thoughts on Politics, Public Affairs, the media and anything else that matters from Conall McDevitt, SDLP MLA for South Belfast
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  • Is it time to remove the blogging masks?

    Posted on January 3rd, 2009 Conall McDevitt 3 comments

    Political blogging on this island has come on greatly in the past three years. South of the border most blog under their actual rather then assumed names.  Here in the North, however, a very large number of those who blog on politics and current affairs still do so anonymously or through pen names.

    Last year I had an occasion when a well known blogger who uses a pen name left a comment about me on his site. I was anxious to understand why he might hold such apparently negative views about my politics and my profession so I asked someone who I thought might know this person to see if we could be introduced. I never heard back.

    Yes the troubles made it unsafe for people to publicly declare their political opinions and yes there is still a culture in some parts of vilification but surely the time has come to remove the masks and have our discussions in the open, face to face across the blogosphere.

    Business, Politics, Public Affairs, Public Relations ,
     

    3 responses to “Is it time to remove the blogging masks?”

    1. Ciarán January 3rd, 2009 at 11:16

      There’s another thing: using your own name keeps you disciplined. No flaming, no baiting, etc. if you’re actually who you say you are. In my experience some of the pseudononymous tend to use their masks to dispense with their manners. Which, in my view, is simple cowardice.

    2. Andrew Muir January 4th, 2009 at 23:34

      Tend to agree with Ciarán – putting your real name to your comments naturally obliges you to adopt the same standards used in normal political discourse

    3. O’Conall St Singpost | O'Conall Street January 10th, 2009 at 07:55

      [...] in town. Esoterica NI is just getting started and so far anonymous. I have posted previously about anonymity and political blogging but do want to welcome our new friend to the street. As Chekov notes on his blog it is not apparent [...]

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