In 2002 when I started using Blogger for the now defunct TLNewsau blog I was wary of identifying myself online. Current wisdom then was that one should create an online name/identity and use that lest some predator find out your true identity and either steal it or stalk you.
At that stage because I was a librarian I chose the bibliaugrapher label as it seemed to describe my activity and have a reference to my geographical location. When I started blogging for genealogy nearly 3 years ago I chose Geniaus (a genealogist from Australia) as my online identity. For consistency I use this ID as my login on quite a number of social networking sites together with a little portrait by my then 6 year old grand-daughter as my avatar. I see Geniaus and that portrait as my branding.
Last year when I was invited to be an Official Blogger for Rootstech I had to come out of the closet and reveal my true identity. This didn't deter me as I realised that, as long as I practised safe social networking, the predators probably wouldn't stalk me (especially when there are a lot of younger and prettier victims online).
In July Google+ appeared, I was lucky enough to be a very early Beta user of this new platform that I just love. To use Google+ one is supposed to use one's real name (although I know of quite a few dodgy IDs out there) so I complied and moved a little further out of the closet. Today in the Blogger Buzz Blog I read this news Use your Google+ profile with your Blogger blogs.
It said " Today we’re excited to announce the first way you will be able to leverage Google+ -- by making it possible to replace your Blogger profile with your Google+ profile.
In addition to giving your readers a more robust and familiar sense of who you are, your social connections will see your posts in their Google search results with an annotation that you've shared the post.
At that stage because I was a librarian I chose the bibliaugrapher label as it seemed to describe my activity and have a reference to my geographical location. When I started blogging for genealogy nearly 3 years ago I chose Geniaus (a genealogist from Australia) as my online identity. For consistency I use this ID as my login on quite a number of social networking sites together with a little portrait by my then 6 year old grand-daughter as my avatar. I see Geniaus and that portrait as my branding.
Last year when I was invited to be an Official Blogger for Rootstech I had to come out of the closet and reveal my true identity. This didn't deter me as I realised that, as long as I practised safe social networking, the predators probably wouldn't stalk me (especially when there are a lot of younger and prettier victims online).
In July Google+ appeared, I was lucky enough to be a very early Beta user of this new platform that I just love. To use Google+ one is supposed to use one's real name (although I know of quite a few dodgy IDs out there) so I complied and moved a little further out of the closet. Today in the Blogger Buzz Blog I read this news Use your Google+ profile with your Blogger blogs.
It said " Today we’re excited to announce the first way you will be able to leverage Google+ -- by making it possible to replace your Blogger profile with your Google+ profile.
In addition to giving your readers a more robust and familiar sense of who you are, your social connections will see your posts in their Google search results with an annotation that you've shared the post.
Plus, bloggers who switch will automatically get access to the Google+ integrations we’ll be rolling out in the future"
As I want to enhance my social connections and be in on the ground floor for any new Google+ initiatives I closed the closet door and changed my Blogger profile to my Google+ profile. I am no longer Geniaus on Blogger but Jill Ball who blogs as Geniaus. I hope that the new Google+ integrations come before the month is up as I have that long to crawl back into the closet and reactivate my Geniaus Blogger profile.
Are you changing your Blogger Profile to Google+ or are you adopting a 'wait and see' approach?
I'm still at the toe in the water stage with Google+. Geniaus is so much your brand in genealogy circles (pardon the pun) that this is bound to give pause for thought. Using the same image helps with the continuity...and the brand.
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