There has been a bit of upheaval recently around the blogosphere about pseudonyms and their impact on the trust factor. While I can understand and empathize with some of the trepidation, I don’t get the bashing and obnoxiously self-righteous attitudes.
There are certainly times when a pseudonym is beneficial and one must always take great care to ensure the use of one doesn’t hinder their integrity and trustworthiness. I think there’s a pretty fine line between being trustworthy and not; perhaps a line that for some, is too easy to cross.
Of course, sometimes one gets pushed across the line, perhaps by necessity (possibly in extreme situations) or perhaps by another with less than honest intentions. Either way, it’s going to cause some backfire. Those on the outside shouldn’t be so quick to judge, though.
It’s that whole “walk a mile in their shoes” thing. Put yourself in their situation and truly examine your heart – would you react that way then? Possibly. And possibly not. But until you’re actually faced with the same set of circumstances, you can’t say for sure.
A teacher I had several years ago in a college course I took said, “All of us are only one thought, one action, one reaction from being in that place.” She was talking about the state prison. She went on to describe everyday, nice, upstanding people that were faced with a choice and ended up on the other side for whatever reason. Often, to protect themselves or someone they love.
And I think that pertains to the use of pseudonyms – especially for single moms. As someone who was once a single mom (with an ex-husband who was stalking her and had/has a restraining order), I totally can relate to that. In fact, “Annie” is not my real first name. (I guarantee you, though, I am most certainly a woman!) Annie is a nickname my family has always called me, ever since I can remember. If you know me, you know my real first name (though Anderson really is my last name) although I have not completely hidden my true name – you can find it. 
My point, though, is that in the end, it’s just a name.
As we have found out, however, it’s what’s behind the name that matters. And while I think there are certainly other ways the whole thing could have been handled, I don’t fault anyone for it. We all make our choices based on the facts and feelings we have at the time. The problem is that over time, those facts and feelings can change.
The lesson here, is that having a professional pseudonym gives you a certain responsibility to your clients and those you work with to ensure that your actions are held to the highest integrity. You must always come clean with those you work with, otherwise it can (and most assuredly – will) be taken as dishonesty when the truth is revealed. I think this is especially true where gender difference is concerned.
And if you know anything at all about karma, you know that the truth always comes out eventually!
Now, having said all of that, let me just say – I think it took a tremendous amount of balls to do what James Chartrand did.
(By the way, the truth coming out doesn’t always have anything to do with dishonesty, either.) (Just some food for thought there.)
Be blessed,
This whole thing raises some other interesting questions and I may discuss my thoughts further in the future. For now, though, I think the whole uproar is rather silly.
Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.
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