Do Your Children Have Blog Nicknames?
I blogged throughout my pregnancy with my son six years ago, and during that time he was christened with the name, Whoorlito, or “Wito” for short. When Wito was born, it just seemed like keeping his nickname on the blog was the natural thing to do. So, that’s what we did. Add my little girl’s arrival last year into the mix, and “Wito and Wita” have been the pseudonyms of choice.
However, occasionally I wonder if it’s silly that I’m using nicknames for my kids. Especially when I receive a comment (or email) remarking on what interesting, unique names “Wito” and “Wita” are, and asking how I came to choose those names for my children. (YES. PEOPLE THINK THAT I ACTUALLY NAMED MY CHILDREN WITO AND WITA.) Well, call me horribly shallow, but that’s enough to throw me over the edge.
On one hand, my children actually do have very unique and uncommon names, so I feel like nicknames give them a little more added protection. Yet, on the other hand, in this day and age, if someone really wanted to find out my children’s names, it probably wouldn’t be that difficult.
When I look around at my favorite blogs, it seems to be a 50/50 mix of nicknames and real names. Hmmm, I think it’s time for a poll.
What are your thoughts? Or am I the only loser thinking about these kind of things?
I use nicknames for their safety? I guess? I don’t know. I know a lot of people use actual names that aren’t their children’s actual names, which I’ve thought of, but can’t commit to renaming my children.
Honestly, unless you are going to be crazy diligent about keeping them secret, the whole thing is silly. I read a couple of blogs that use nicknames for their kids, but then they post artwork with all the family names, or a picture of their kids’ rooms with their name on the wall, or a picture of their Christmas card that year that lists the kids’ names.
I understand the security issue, but then again when we have seen all the rooms of a blogger’s house, the kind of car they drive, etc.etc, is using a nickname really keeping them safe?
I give my kids nicknames so they have a shot at “owning” their real names in the Google Cache.
I use my kids’ real names, but here’s the thing: I blog about baby names. It would feel terribly inauthentic, I think, if I didn’t reveal my own children’s names in my writing. What doesn’t come up in my blog is much about their daily lives – I might post a picture a few times a year, but generally … nope. If I were writing about them – potty training and tantrums and driving lessons and first crushes – then I think I would be tempted to use blog names, so they had a shot at some kind of privacy.
I use nicknames for both of my girls, but I’ve been considering giving it up and going all-out. I hesitate though, because I don’t know how they would feel about me plastering them all over the internet as they get older. It’s a tricky question for me… I’m still undecided for now.
I gave LG the nickname (“nickname”; it’s her initials) because I just didn’t want someone (from work, say) Googling her name and that leading its way back to my blog.
If I happen to give my future kid(s) (one day) more common names (umm, doubtful) then I might not use their initials or a nickname, but for LG it’s just what felt best.
Yeah, it’s a google thing for me too. I just keep her name out of type until she’s old enough to make that decision for herself. It’s not something I’m terribly strict about but I figure I might as well. She doesn’t need 3000 pages of google hits just because I’ve been writing rolling content for the last ten years. Or maybe she will want it when she wants to become famous for something. I have no idea.
I use pseudonyms for all of us because Google Never Forgets. I figure even if I don’t necessarily need that particular kind of “protection” now, I might need it later, and once you’ve shared real information with the world, you can’t really un-ring that bell, you know?
(And yes, I get the occasional person who thinks I actually named my kid Wombat.)
My girls had nicknames on my blog until a few months ago. I realized that if they had their own Facebook accounts (Suki likes to play a few games and I got tired of the stuff being in my feed and Amber is 13.) using a nickname was a little pointless.
It all just comes down to personal preference. Your kids have awesome IRL names but I remember voting for “Wito” when you were pregnant.
I voted no for a two part reason. As you said, if someone really wanted to know, they could find out and through means that would actually be more invasive to you and yours. Secondly, I feel like you are hiding them from the crazies for security reasons, but then taunting the crazies with a challenge. Does that make sense? I’ve always felt that way when reading blogs where pseudonyms are used. It just peaks curiosity to be all “here are my kids faces but you can’t know their names”!
So that is just one way that I’ve considered the issue.
Nine times out of ten, bloggers post a picture with their kid’s real names in it, on a blanket or at a birthday party, etc. So most of the time people figure it out anyway. (I remember seeing your son’s name on his first birthday cookies.) It’s way too easy to figure things out these days, might as well be real from the beginning…
I think it’s pretty silly. You’re blogging about your kids, the area where you live and posting pictures of them…if you want to be taken seriously as a blogger these days, you can’t be anonymous. The names seem like the least of your worries!
We have “love names’ for our girls that they both had since pregnancy (thanks to my Mom) that we use on and offline. But in general I use their real names. I think sometimes that we all fear the online preditor so much we forget the creepo who lives across the street, the stranger at the park, the bad gut feeling over a new parent situation, the ones that we still need to be aware of. We do our best to protect our kids on a daily basis, nickname or not for us.
i use my kids’ middle names. that way i won’t forget them, but i do it b/c my husband thinks it’s a good idea to protect them. when they’re old enough to have their own online profiles, they’ll use their names. although, we’ve told them it’s a good idea to not use their real names because of the small percentage of people who are predators.
We also wonder about the changing levels of privacy as our technology advances.It’s tricky. I use her name when I post about her on FB. I was very specific about not posting any photos of her on FB, tho. For me the decision was based on my job: I work as a psychologist at a facility with sexually violent predators. I didn’t want them to be able to one day google me and find me or my daughter’s info. For photo sharing, we created a specific website for her and only gave the address to specific friends and family that requested it. If I still blogged, I would likely use a nickname so that she can decide if and when she wants to go public on the interwebs.
You know, for the longest time, I thought your son’s name really was Wito. Until your daughter was born, that is. Then I thought, hmm… Wita is too similar to Wito for them to be real names, they MUST be fake! So yeah. Put me in the totally oblivious category.
I use my kid’s real names but I’m seriously considering going back and changing them to something fake. Like you said – if someone really wanted to figure out their names, they probably could. But I don’t think the added measure of privacy hurts.
I have been a reader of your blog since you were pregnant with “Wito” and through comments, pictures or twitter learned both your kids names. So, without even trying, I found out their names. I get not wanting to use their real names for the google factor. But like i said, their names are ‘out there’ already….
Loving nicknames? No problem Weird pseudo-names for the sake of privacy? Not worth all the extra effort, for me. Ive honestly never quite understood the need for hiding children’s names online. The whole idea of “someone will find out my children’s real names and do horrible things to them!” screams paranoia to me. Celebrities let everyone know their children’s names all the time, and they are one, if not the, most stalked group out there. Does the fact that we know that Gwyneth Paltrow’s daughter is named Apple make her any less safe in this world? Doubtful. Further, the fact that many parents choose to hide their children’s real names, but publicly post that little Junebug or Snizzlefritz is being tested for Autism or ADD, and include photos and the hometown of said child, just confuses me. How is that considered protecting their privacy? I know that parents ultimately worry about their children being teased in school, bullied on the internet or even stalked, but I think that if you’re going to want total anonymity for them, then a mommy blog is the last place you need to be. Like another person posted, it may also just tempt the crazies out there by giving them a challenge.
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