Bloggers beware

As soon as I read this post by Kevin Drum on the perils of blogging under one's real name, I thought to myself "Crrrrappppp." Subsequent horror stories that have emerged out of the woodwork built on the sinking feeling that I made a mistake when I started blogging under my real name without thinking anything of it.

Helaine Olen revealed herself as a detestably small-minded woman with a lot of personal issues. But how would we know how many other employers (and even just people in general) are not thinking the same things? Because they don't have a NY Times Style Section op-ed, we'll never know.

One small chink of comfort: eventually, under the merciless memory of google, we are all bloggers. I mean, even those who do not blog will eventually accumulate a substantial google history. It will be harder to compartmentalize yourself with different sides available to different people. One can only hope that when we reach that point employers would learn to tolerate a little more humanity in their nannies.

[Oh, and hey: Welcome those who just came in from Atrios. Look around. Make yourselves at home.]