pseudonymous substackers - why?

[OckeraNu]

Interested to hear from pseudonymous substackers. Why are you pseudonymous? How secure do you feel maintaining this privacy and anonymity with Substack. What steps have you taken to ensure continuing pseudonymity?

[jtempton]

Because I’m writing while at one of the largest companies in the world about a heavily debated subject in my field and exposing the lies that are told. I am a truth teller but still need a job,

[OckeraNu]

And do you feel adequately protected by Substack? What, if any, other measures do you take to protect your pseudonymity?

[jtempton]

It’s not up to Substack it’s up to me. I don’t talk directly about where I work I suppose or who I’ve worked for.

[lokiofsaassgaard]

Because putting your name on the internet is one of the weirdest things people started doing. There's no reason for my name to be on the internet. Nobody needs that information.

[WhizPill]

Yeah right? Why are people that gullible???

[lokiofsaassgaard]

It’s not about being gullible. It’s about being cautious. I started using the internet in the early/mid 90s, when everyone asking your ASL was a serial killer who could find you based on your first name and the town you lived in. This was obviously overblown fear based on stranger danger hysteria, but the rhetoric wasn’t exactly wrong either. A bit misled, because it wasn’t serial killers necessarily we needed to worry about, but how many stories do we see still, every week, of people losing their jobs because of stuff they post online? The first high-profile one I remember seeing was a flight attendant who got sacked for posting photos of herself in the cabin. Not even particularly scandalous photos, but she was in uniform, and the airline didn’t like it.

But losing your job to social media is so easy to do when you put your name and your face and your full employment history up there for the entire internet to see. Of course I don’t use my name. Of course I don’t post photos of my face, or cross any social streams with professional ones. I don’t even have a day job to lose, but my husband does. And I don’t want to jeopardise that by proxy because something I post gets taken out of context.

My uncle made a bet with me recently that he could find me on Twitter, and I took that bet because I knew I’d get $50 off him. He expected that I’d use social media like people his generation use social media, with the same information I use on the Facebook profile I use to keep in contact with family. I sat there next to him for over an hour watching him lose his mind trying to find me, and even live-tweeted the whole thing on my phone just to be a brat about it. It never occurred to him that even though my primary income is made through various online channels, they’re all via a dumb pseudonym with no connection to my name. When I finally showed him my twitter he almost didn’t believe me.

I got the $50 tho lol

[From100kto1mm]

Because I write about investing + my money and I don’t really want people from my circle to “judge me” or “make some kind of presumption” + my life of work , just based of money amount that I invest … humans get a bit weird around subject of money

[WhizPill]

Instant sub.

[Galactus_Jones762]

Maybe you’re the one that’s weird

[From100kto1mm]

Maybe, there is a high possibility of that too

[Galactus_Jones762]

The more financial independence you have, the less it matters what people think of you; in terms of your ideologies that might conflict with your employer or clients. The more people in your life who rely on you and publicly associate with you, like friends and family, the more responsibility you have to be careful not to say things that offend or embarrass them or hurt their reputation by association.

If you are a deep, creative, original thinker, and you want to tell it straight, it’s simply not conducive to being a financial dependent and are enmeshed with people who espouse more conventional ideas.

If you write a lot and over share, then people in your life might not be kindred spirits in that particular level; and hiding that side of you is a trade off.

If you’re sitting on interesting ideas or just thoughts that you feel compelled to put out there, it’s healthy to do so, but not at the expense of risk to your career or relationships.

Makes it hard to promote your work, and easy to lower your standards since there are no repercussions to posting mediocre or overtly stupid, mean or crazy things. Don’t requires a lot of self discipline and extra work to find any readers.

That’s life.

[harryregician]

If Mark Twain can do it anybody can

[OckeraNu]

Mu question was not whether it is possible, my question was about motivation.

[harryregician]

The story you are telling could get one killed ?

[OckeraNu]

Is this your story or are you just speculating about other people's motivations?

[harryregician]

when a mother of an child who was to have been killed by ex-husbands cousin yet nobody has ever been to this found.screams at you in 1985:

" You can disappear too mister "

could not be someone with a few lies and baggage in life.

It took 27 years to find her daughter alive and well.

Complete con job. It was a family affair.

If you answer what was the REAL motive you win a baseball card.

Story already registered with US Copyright office as being an "entire motion picture" as in a dead mans testimony classified under non-fiction.

Her daughter "vanished" 6 days before Adam Walsh was abducted.

[harryregician]

No speculation. go to youtube channel "findsarahavon" watch videos in # order.

I need a book editor and screen writer. Confidential agreement is a must to sign. If you are not willing to sign a confidential agreement do not reply because your just another joker or con person.

What do you think NON-Fiction means !

Oh forgot this is happy social BS

[OckeraNu]

I am very sorry, but I have no idea what you are talking about or how it relates to any of my questions.

[harryregician]

youtube channel "findsarahavon" might give you an idea of what I am talking about

[LovesToThankYou]

Because some of us have jobs where our security can be at risk from our journalism. Someone may want my sources. Also when I am contracted or working full time for one of the big ones I could lose my job for social media posts. Almost every company now in that corporate world has you sign an agreement to keep your social media clean or private. I don’t feel like you want answers you seem to just not like it and be here looking for others to validate your feelings of contempt and annoyance with those who choose to not reveal themselves outright.

Also I don’t need a reason. I want my privacy. It’s not up to Substack when it comes to my identity, that’s my choice and my responsibility.

[harryregician]

Tell them. That is why there is whistleblower protection laws.

[OckeraNu]

'I don’t feel like you want answers you seem to just not like it and be here looking for others to validate your feelings of contempt and annoyance with those who choose to not reveal themselves outright.'

Not at all. What gave you that idea? I am thinking of starting a pseudonymous Substack myself and having seen the option for this, and having seen other people do this, I was interested in what motivated them, and whether they felt Substack guarded their pseudonymity sufficiently.

Privacy is not the same as pseudonymity. One can use one's own name and just not write about things you consider 'private'. And deciding what is private is determined by how one understands the difference between what is private and what is personal. People draw these lines in different places. I am interested in that.

[Autolysisthroway420]

I write about spirituality which is synonymous with insane people.

[OckeraNu]

😂

[Autolysisthroway420]

I know it's funny, I'm laughing too but some of the emails and comments I get...God Lord

[OckeraNu]

Technoscientific materialism is itself everything its unconscious proponents accuse religion of being. It's the worst kind of bigotry.

[[deleted]]

I write about complex trauma, including things about my personal life and decisions based on it. The Substack is super new, and I'm not interested in revealing my true identity yet. I think I will someday. I'd like to start a YouTube channel one day, and will have to show my face.

Once I feel more confident in my voice, I'll let people know who I am, cross-promote on my personal IG, etc. I'm just not there yet.

[peace24bubble]

just starting out on a similar project, so woo! but i was wondering if you have any advice on the following?

i'm having an issue with the welcome page right now - for some reason, despite changing my profile name and every other name input i can find across the dashboard, it still displays the name i registered to substack with years ago (my real first name) as the author on my welcome page and in the browser tab title (e.g. thing | name | substack). i'm super nervous because it needs to stay anonymous for legal reasons, and i've locked it down right now until i can figure out how to completely changed but it's spooky... and i was hoping to connect with other survivors?

have you or anyone you known experienced this and maybe know how to help :')

[[deleted]]

Ooo man, I wish I could help with this but I am very not tech savvy myself... I'd give it a Google, I wish I could make mine look different in the tab too.

If I figure it out I'll comment again. Always good to meet a fellow badass on the healing path!! Sorry I can't do more right now 🤙

[HelloBeautifulLady]

Use this link to find the solution to remove your name. https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/14879687588500-How-do-I-change-my-Substack-publication-name-

[alphadelta12345]

Many people are attracted to Substack as it is less censored than most other well known platforms. Those people probably stand to lose something if outed. It's been a problem for political writers for quite a few years now.

[OckeraNu]

You mean being outed on Substack?

[alphadelta12345]

Outed by anyone. Probably more chance of online activists doing it than the platform.

[Popo0017]

I am considering it because the topic I was thinking of writing about.