Oops!
Today I was outed...sort of. In large group lecture a student asked the professor a question, and he replied, "I think the answer to that is posted on [my] blog. You have a blog, right?" He was referring to a course blog I started up, but that isn't really ready for use. I'm essentially using a blog platform as a substitute for Blackboard, since I hate having to post stuff on Blackboard. The site is still in the works.
So, I lied. "No, I don't have a history blog."
Yeah, I panicked. My first instinct when my name and the word blog appear in the same sentence is to deny, DENY, DENY. And, I didn't really want this teaching blog given out to the entire class, which includes 60 students who are not my responsibility. Plus, like I said, it's not really ready.
After class I apologized and said that yes, it was my site, but that I hadn't really remembered that the site existed because I haven't touched it in months. I really haven't touched it in months. I guess he found it somehow? I dunno. Ah well. I feel stupid for overreacting and lying about it.
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1 added thoughts:
I have to say that I personally fall more on the side of what Dan Cohen's said about anonymity on academic blogs.
For every horror story you see in the Chronicle about the perils of blogging, and people losing positions because of their internet presence, there's other examples of people who've only expanded their professional presence by doing work online. And the more of us that do it, the more we legitimize blogging as a mode of academic discourse. That's why I keep my name on my blog... It might come back to bite me on the hindquarters, but I certainly hope not.
You don't talk about too much that's too personal, you're not particularly controversial in your views here...
Why so afraid to "out" yourself?
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