The connections between anonymity and self-disclosure online have received research attention, but the results have been inconclusive with regard to self-disclosure in blogs. This quantitative content analysis of 154 personal journal blogs tested some assumptions of the online disinhibition effect in order to examine the effect of types of anonymity on the amount, breadth, and depth of self-disclosure in blog entries. Results showed that participants disclosed more information in their blog entries when they were more visually identified (sharing a picture of themselves), contrary to the assumptions of the online disinhibition effect. Overall, a trend emerged where visual anonymity led to less disclosiveness, and discursive anonymity (sharing one's real name) led to less disclosiveness for particular types of bloggers.Key words: Personal Journal Blogs, Self-Disclosure, Online Disinhibition, Anonymity, Content Analysis doi:10.1111/jcc4.12008 It is well established that self-disclosure drives relationships (e.g., Altman & Taylor, 1973;Derlega, Metts, Petronio, & Margulis, 1993), and close relationships are characterized by disclosure marked by increasing breadth and depth (Altman & Taylor, 1973;Wheeless, 1978). However, as more relationships are being formed and maintained online, our traditional theories of self-disclosure in face-to-face (FtF) relationships must be tested in the electronic environment because we cannot assume that our conventional understandings of relationships apply equally in different contexts. The connection between identities and self-disclosure is one such area that deserves a closer look. Unlike in FtF relationships, where disclosure of personal information occurs in established relationships between interactants who know one another well, a different pattern has developed on the Internet.Specifically, the anonymity afforded by the Internet has been found to result in decreasing inhibitions and increasing self-disclosures, a condition known as the online disinhibition effect (Suler, 2004). Bargh, McKenna, and Fitzsimons (2002) argued that online anonymity can produce results similar to the ''stranger on a train'' phenomenon, wherein people share intimate self-disclosures with strangers they may never see again (Rubin, 1975). Under conditions of anonymity, people self-disclose more intimate information because there are few if any related risks and constraints (Bargh et al., ). The prevailing research in computer-mediated communication (CMC) supports this positive relationship between anonymity and self-disclosure (e.g., Bailenson, Yee, Merget, & Schroeder, 2006;Chiou, 2006Chiou, , 2007 Joinson, 2001;McKenna & Bargh, 2000). However, these predictable effects of anonymity on self-disclosure may not hold in the blogosphere, where people write about their inner selves through personal journal blogs (Blood, 2002). Unlike traditional journals, which are often kept hidden under lock and key, bloggers often post their innermost thoughts for any Internet user to read (Bortree, 2005;Viegas, 2005)....
