Why They Blog Anonymously and We do not
I keep wondering a ’little and trivial’ thing prevails in blogosphere: the tendency of westerners to blog anonymously; and the fondness of us, Indonesians, to blog otherwise ofcourse with few exception here and there. For various reasons Indonesian bloggers tend to make their blogs and their names known in the google world and are proud to see their traffic achieves PG (page ranking) four plus.
Non-Indonesian or westerners, however, seems to be satisfied if their blog contents are known more than the persons behind those writings. Just a few examples, almost 80 percent of expat blogs in Indonesia are pseudonymous. Conversely, I hardly found any Indonesian bloggers whose pictures, true full names and CVs are not attached in their blogs.
Interestingly, most westerners who blog pseudonymously, or ghostly if you like, are blogging serious topics— politics, culture, current affairs, religion sometimes with bluffing and bashing flavour attached to it— a kind of topic that require us to show our true face or name to assure that you have a good and honest intention of making criticism and a symbolic gesture that you as an individual is open to dialogue. There are few example of Indonesian bloggers who follow this trend in its entirety which are not worth mentioning here.
I am proud that Indonesian bloggers blog bravely; expressing their critique frankly and showing their identities at the same time to tell the one or institution they criticise that they are willing to take the risk and responsibility, if any, of whatever they are saying. And if you do not have the gut to criticise someone or an instititution (government or not) without hiding your true identity my little opinios is: Just Don’t Do it! That would be much better. There are many other topics that would interest readers without sacrificing your integrity and credibility.
And as far as Indonesian bloggers go, I believe the trend of showing their true identity should be maintained, especially whose blogs are about controversial and sensitive issues like religion and socio-political and cultural issues.