Silence Dogwood's Blog

Mills, Charles E., artist.
"Benjamin Franklin, editor and writer."
Between 1909 and 1920.
Prints and Photographs Division
of the Library of Congress.

I wonder what would Benjamin Frankly have thought about 'blogging'? He was a pretty wordy guy, writing his explanations about experiments and writing stories. However, he did not always know how to write. It is interesting Benjamin used a pseudonym, Silence Dogwood, much like bloggers use a display name. In that respect, if he were blogging today, he would have a display name! Display names are how writers can put information out into a public forum yet still maintain a margin of privacy, for whatever reason. Benjamin Franklin's reason may have been to get published and since his brother was the local newspaper printer, he may have wanted his writings to be considered without prejudice. Ben could have produced, and edited, many writings in a blog without his brother knowing he was the author.

Do bloggers want their work to be considered without prejudice or is it more a matter of wanting to present points of view without what, comment?  Yet, commenting is allowed, right? What would it matter if someone's name is made visible?