How to write a personal blog incognito?

Pseudonym, no picture.

I have one on Google blogs that isn’t connected in any way to my online social identity.

Blogger.com has this setting :

Who can view this blog?
1) Anybody
2) Only People I Choose
3) Only Blog Authors

Let me reiterate: can one keep a diary, which by definition is personal and private, a special place for the most private of thoughts – online? I think it’s an impasse.

“Only Blog Authors” in the settings means authors of that particular blog. If you set it up, and you are the only authorized contributor, you are the only authorized reader.

Or do you mean accessible to the world without giving away your identity?

@jaytkay The latter. I don’t see a point to a blog if only I can see it – may as well just type in Word.

You could run a Freenet node and host your blog there, the only problem being that it would be visible only to other users of Freenet.
There are anonymous mail services you can use to establish an account with some services. Mailinator is just one of these. Some services check to make sure that your email is a “real” one (i.e., they filter out mailinator.com and certain other domains) so you would need to choose one that doesn’t do that.

@zen – Word? What about Google Docs?

I can’t think of anything more polar to anonymity than big brother google. But thanks.

You could create alter egos for you and anyone else who might regularly appear.

Wrong location, maybe wrong age. Wrong occupations. Make your fake bio very prominent on the blog – “Notes from a Peruvian Fashion Designer Living in Hanoi”

Then just write all your personal stuff, substituting the characters’ names for the real ones.

Just an idea. Not necessarily a good one, but it’s what came to mind. Thinking again, it sounds overly complicated, but I’ll put it out there as conversation material.

I think @Simone_De_Beauvoir hit it on the head. Use a pseudonym, nothing with zen in it. Use an anonymous email account to set it up. No pictures of your self or any other people. Be circumspect in describing your locale or any current events.

My best friend does exactly this. He uses a pseudonym, and he blogs about his life and the things that interest him, without being specific about things like his home location, his job or family etc . He’s been doing it for years and it works pretty well for him.

@downtide Link please.

@zen: “I can’t think of anything more polar to anonymity than big brother google. But thanks.”

I can sympathize with this position. However, I also saw that you were looking to write a journal online. You had even considered the possibility of Blogger, which is Google. Are you concerned about anonymity, privacy, or both? Your comment about google implies you are concerned about privacy, How does that relate to anonymity?

Anyway, go with Word, a text document, or a paper notebook. If you’re looking for something online, it sounds like you might have privacy concerns.

Agreed, thank you.

Interesting thought.
It is, in my opinion, possible by writing mostly (or only) about your deep personal experiences or inquiries you do not usually share with people personally and you manage to hide their connection to your physical daily life by using, let’s say, abstract approach to whole event.

Then you can choose any from blogging sites, but hide your virtual identity by using some kind of proxy (project Tor).

@zen oh.. an impasse – well, probably the diary would have to be almost an artistic piece. There is probably only very thin line between a fiction and a very abstract transcript of someone’s own personal life while staying authentic.