I have no problem with anonymity on the web. I believe it is important to protect yourself FIRST. However, as you have so wisely said, there is a difference between anonymity and using search terms and keywords in your “name” and signing your comments with a resume including links, and participating as a commenter interested in the content and the ability to trace the comment back to “you” and your blog.

The first reeks of greed and narcissism, and the second, continues a conversation beyond the blog post, if the reader so desires.

As for blogs not having a “terms of use”, many do. Mine is called a “policy”, which covers more than just comments but also legal issues. Others call it their “comments policy”, “legal”, “terms”, and other words to describe their policies, conditions, and terms of use.

Still, these need updating as technology and culture changes around blogs. I need to update mine on my main blog, so thanks for the reminder.

I also think this is very on-topic because if we all acknowledge that the world is like this, then it’s easy to understand why we have to each go to greater lengths to ensure that people are aware that we are one of the good guys. Hence, the use of our name or handle, along with a link that backs up our claim about who we actually are!

John

While it is true that one of my favorite places in the world (the internet) is disgustingly infected with spammers, scammers, and scumbags – I have also found it to be true that another type of individual roams these web waters. And that is the person with a genuine heart, plugging away day after day, much to the chagrin of the family usually, to make a go of this ‘work online’ thing. This person starts to make a little progress and is so excited! They meet John Doe or Jane Doe online, who is just a step or two behind them – and bends over backwards to help them get ahead. Then John or Jane reciprocates, or pays it forward.

There are so many wonderful people like this online, in the blogging world, in the WAHM world, in the internet marketing arena – and in the various crossovers of these. I have been moved time and time again witnessing, and receiving, the help that is freely doled out. Exhibit A – this blog. Shouldn’t we pay tuition, or something? ;)

So what I am saying is, if a genuine person such as these I’ve mentioned comes along, I am more than willing to spread the link juice. I know they’ll return it to me, or return it to others, or make it big (big to me=fulltime income) and teach others how to, as well.

That is one thing that has truly amazed me in my years online – the generosity of IM’ers, bloggers, and WAHM’ers! I have never, nor expect I will ever, seen so much ‘helping out the next guy’ in any other line of work.

This comment could be totally off-topic, or completely on-target, depending on how you look at it, I guess. ;)

And about Tupac, I wasn’t sure if you was being funny or not :D. I’m glad you know you’re stuff, and I just thought I would let you know for future reference incase you was obvlivious to his demise.

Luke.

Anyway, I think you get the point – genericly speaking – that people might want to know who you are, and giving them an about page makes it easy for them to contact you.

John

John

I appreciate your reply. I guess you are right about the About Me page, and now I think about it I really can’t come up with an excuse or a reason why I haven’t created one. I used to have an ‘About’ page, but that was simply information regarding the site. You know, when I get home from work I’m going to do that :).

And yes, I have read your About page. Infact that was one of the first things I did when I first stumbled accross your blog. It enforces my trust in you, and I believe supports the bond between you, your blog, and us.

Regards.

At the same time, anonymity always has a cost, and if you choose it you should never expect equal treatment with people like Lorelle, Matt Cutts, Matt Mullenweg, myself, Hrafn Thorisson, Lisa Marie Mary, Adi or the many thousands of bloggers who make their identities known.

I completely disagree with you that someone’s work or interest best describe them. That statement essentially values a person’s output more than their humanity. You could read my resume and be really impressed with the fact that I went to Harvard Business School, Founded HTMLHelp.com, and was a VP in a global company by the age of 30. But none of that is who I am, and besides it’s boring enough to send you off to someone else far more interesting.

But if I tell you I’m a guy who loves gadgets, things that burn gasoline, climbing dormant volcanoes, and I can sing every single word of the Humpty Dance… well, that’s a hell of a lot more interesting isn’t it?

John

First of all, that is an awesome photo! Are you wearing a shoulder holster under there? :-)

You are absolutely correct about the complexity involved with the choice of places to link to. Don’t forget, people also have MySpace, Flickr, LinkedIn and other sites as choices as well!

Keep in mind that this post is really in draft format because as far as I’m aware I’m the first person to actually try to put a framework around this concept and I’m sure it still needs some refinement. But to me the main point is just that people use a URL that allows us to get to know one another.

I realize that sometimes a persons main persona is tied directly into a commercial site that they own. For example BradDet above and his BWebCentral site. This makes for some difficult decisions where the Blogger is concerned. Let’s say that BradDet adds an About page and on it he explains that this is his site, he loves it, his mission is X, etc. Whoever’s blog he comments on using that URL is going to have to make a decision as to whether or not it meets the requirements.

In many cases people are going to decide that NO, it does not. BradDet will be punished in those instances. So, what options does he have? Plenty…

• Link directly to the About page on the site.
• Put up a blog on the site and link to that.
• Link to a profile page somewhere that lists BWebCentral as his main project on the Web.

The key here is just not to have a landing page which people will immediately be turned off by because it seems entirely commercial.

I don’t know about you, but when I click on someone’s name I’m trying to learn who they are. If I can’t readily determine that I’m instantly turned off and go away never to return.

John

You were talking about which specific URL people link to with their comments link – surely it depends!

First of all, some people will have only one single webpage. Or they have one website and believe that the canonical URL is the best place to link to (and it’s probably the shortest to type too!).

Then there’s the “landing-page” idea – even subconsciously most people will want to link to a contextual page, not deep-link into the middle of something that the visitor may or may not have context for.

Next you’ll have people, like myself, with more than one website with vastly different topics. The site we link to will probably be dependent on the nature of the site the comment is left on. E.g. if I’m commenting on sports related site’s I’m going to link to my sports blog, but if I’m on Matt Cutts blog I’m going to link to my seo site. The later is far more relevant to the blogger and his readers than the former.

Finally, I’ve linked you to my business site with a picture of me looking like a mafiosa ;)

Cheers,
Alastair.

I’ve also enjoyed our dialog and look forward to many healthy exchanges in the future.

John

I try to be someone that removes rel=”nofollow” from author links, but I’m heavily starting to consider changing that practice to have something more along the lines of what you’re doing (rewarding frequent commentators with a link in the sidebar). It’s been a bit of a struggle as of now because I don’t feel all too comfortable letting anyone and everyone automatically giving themselves a link from my page to theirs.

In any case, that was a bit of an aside. I think that comments are some of the best parts of blogging because it makes it more into a conversation than otherwise. Personally I really enjoy responding to comments. It’s quite nice to be able to comment here and get responses (sometimes).