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I think it depends on how much personal information you reveal about yourself. I have seen bloggers become successful but kept their family and personal details out. They made it all about home design or food.

Once you out yourself, i feel as if you open it up to a lot of criticism/unwanted comments that you could take quite personally.

I started out anonymous but transitioned when I linked my professional site to my blog (I'm a freelance writer). I do share info there but no names/photos other than me, and it's not overtly personal information.

I'm still anonymous. I really want to be public, but I'm a public school teacher. That's the main thing holding me back right now. My posts are becoming more and more "generic" I guess over time, but I still keep the controversial ones prominent so that they can help others... I can't figure out a way to make it work unless I start over.

I think it really depends on blog content, your online persona, and your comfort level. I used to occasionally pop onto a fairly popular fashion blog (mainly for kicks, I'm not fashionable in the least). Anyway, after the blogger let her anonymity slip, there was a huge backlash because people found out she works for a very controversial employer and it didn't sit well with many of her readers. I'm not sure how many people actually stopped reading altogether, but I think it was a fair number. I haven't looked at her site for a long time, not necessarily because of that but because I've had better things to do...but anyway, I think it's sort of a cautionary tale. I sometimes wonder if that blogger would have made the decision to lose the anonymity if shed known what she was in for.

I have a blog, although it is far from popular. I am what I like to call "semi-anonymous." I don't use my real first name, but I do use my maiden middle name. I also have given enough details about where I live and went to school that it would probably take someone under 10 minutes of googling to figure out who I really am.

I chose to do it that way because I don't really care if people who read my blog know who I am, but I didn't want to be google-able. I don't want opposing counsel or a judge to ever google my name and find my blog. While I don't write anything bad on there (and I always keep in mind that I shouldn't write anything I'd be unhappy with my mother reading!), it is still personal and I don't want that much of myself tied to my real name.