I'm torn about whether or not to move my blog, presently located on Wordpress.org, onto Steemit. I've built it up to nearly 1800 followers since I started it three years ago and have grown a loyal tribe who have an interest in the topics I cover. On my blog, my identity is known. I write under my own legal name and am transparent in regards to the experiences and ideas I share with my readers. It's a career-related blog and it's rewarded me with valuable work connections and freelance editing opportunities.
Here, on Steemit, I am anonymous. In fact, anonymity is what drew me, perhaps incorrectly, to Steemit. I was looking for a place where I could write about more personal topics that I can not nor would not want to write about on my blog and serendipitously came across a Secret Writer post on a friend's Facebook wall. I had never had an interest in cryptocurrency but I was intrigued by the idea of joining a movement in its infancy. I've admired the writings of @stellebelle and @lauralemons and had planned to use Steemit as a forum to share my own experiences and interests on a more personal level and perhaps find others who were going on similar journeys of healing and self-forgiveness. Soon after joining Steemit I came across the Introduce Yourself posts and requests for verification and realized I had made an error. I don't intend to "come out" here as I've already written about my abusive marriage and other personal topics on Steemit and I can't have that linked to my other life, the one where I am respected by my colleagues and where I can pretend to be okay. I considered the possibility of having two accounts, two names--the real me in addition to my alias, Florentina--but I don't even know if multiple accounts are allowed on Steemit.
My most pressing question is, will my anonymity be an issue on Steemit? And will I be asked at some point to verify my identity?
Yes, you can have two accounts under different aliases as long as you are using them for legitimate purposes and not just trying to upvote yourself. If bots find out the only purpose for having multiple accounts is to cheat the voting system they'll eventually find you and cancel your vote. (There are bot owners right now looking for these types of patterns).
Also, don't "move" your blog posts that are already written. Just start writing new ones here.
Google wants to find unique content. The last thing it wants is to see duplicate content in two places. That hurts steemit's search engine rankings when people do it. Some whale bots will purposely downvote duplicate content and send your reputation into oblivion.
So as long as you keep these two things in mind, you will do well.
Thanks for the info @intelliguy. Yes, I would want to write entirely new content here--and nothing work-related as I save those for my Wordpress blog which basically serves as a calling card for my freelance career. One of the advantages of Wordpress is its design capabilities. My career blog is designed in a beautiful magazine format and it also handles Paypal payments--two things not yet available on Steemet.
Steem Press may be your future home on Steemit. Check it out:
https://steemit.com/steempress/@jesta/steempress-open-source-and-self-hosted-blog-platform-powered-by-the-steem-blockchain
Thanks for the tip--I'll check this out!
First, congrats on the 1800 followers on Wordpress, and as a blogger for the past 20 years, I have to ask, why give that up? You could easily set up an RSS feed from your blog page here, and feed content onto your WP site using IFTTT.com for free. Then you maintain your current platform and add a new one.
Hello @markrmorrisjr. As I mentioned in my post, I don't want my identity here on Steemit to be linked to my professional blog. The last thing I want to do is set up an RSS feed from my blog page here on Steemit to my Wordpress site.
My question is, are we allowed to have anonymous accounts and personas here on Steemit? And secondly, can we have two accounts?
Well, you said you were going to move it here. I was just suggesting another way. Ultimately, no matter how exciting this platform is, it would only ever be a subdomain on a larger site, not your own. I am suggesting it would be a mistake to let go of that. If you started a second account her, a great way to link them would be as I described.
No, I didn't say that. Please read my original post again as you don't seem to understand my predicament. I do not want to link my personal post here on Steemit to my professional blog. I don't want my friends, family and colleagues in my "real life" to know this other, more personal side of me since at some point I want to be able to write about some serious personal issues in my life here on Steemit. Linking the two sites would basically "out" me. Why would I want to do that?
Edited: Oh, now I understand what you were suggesting. Sorry for the confusion @markrmorrisjr.
Okay, good luck, you seem ready to argue and I am not here for that. You said, "I'm torn about whether or not to move my blog, presently located on Wordpress.org, onto Steemit." So I questioned the validity of moving a successful blog. I'mnot suggesting you link anything to your existing anonymous steemit. But, creating a new account, where you don't say anything inflammatory,but carry over the same personality as your current blog,is what I was suggesting. You get the best of both world, collect rewards on steem and have a blog that is already bringing you so much traffic. It's fine if you don't like my idea, but I do understand what you are asking. Perhaps I did not explain clearly enough.