A lot of Xangans feel the need to reciprocate.  If someone subscribes to them, they feel that they should subscribe in return.

You don't have to subscribe to me.  I don't need you to read my posts just because I like reading yours.  Xanga is like training wheels.  In the real world, whether the internet or academia, you don't really know who your audience is, and the readers who count, the readers for whom you really make a difference, may never tell you.   I have a colleague who Googled herself and found a blog post by a student who she could not remember, from three years earlier, saying that something she (the teacher) had said in class had changed that student's life.  My colleague could easily have never known this.  

I recommend that you write for the readers who care about what you have to say, and read the people whose posts you value.  They don't need to be the same people.

I don't blog here (try "Bad Boy Professor" at badboyprofessor.blogspot.com), but I do use this persona on Xanga a lot.   Originally, there were a few things that I wanted to say (or post) as the bad boy professor, but one thing led to another and now "Prof BB" has about a dozen active subscriptions and several additional pages I visit without subscribing (not everyone wants the badboyprofessor on their list of subscribers). 

This post is about the problems that arise when one tries to keep a secret Xanga.  I thought that I'd share some of my experiences with the community in the form of a list of mistakes I keep making tips.
 
1. Avoid the D rating (or embrace it).
Xanga has a rating system (Safebrowse preferences).  I have selected C for "Caution."  "Some material may be inappropriate for children."  D or EX means that most people will be blocked from your site (they have to enter a credit card or something). 

 
Of course, if you want your secret Xanga to be truly explicit, then you should choose this, but you'll lose readers (and Xanga isn't really the place for that sort of thing).

2.  Close all windows and log out when switching identities.
This is the big one.  If you're visiting a friend (say MrsMitty), who you know in real life, as yourself (say WMitty), and leave that window or tab open when you switch to your secret Xanga (say DrEvil), then if you come back to that page later and refresh, your real-life friend will wonder why they were visited by DrEvil.  If it happens more than once, they will figure it out.   Some people track IPs (a lot of counters will do this), and that's a real give away ("Hey, Walter, are you sharing a computer with Dr. Eviil?").  In fact, I go one step further.

3.  Keep your subscriber lists distinct.
Anyone who has both WMitty and DrEvil as subscribers, and who gets comments and visits from them, is likely to notice the inevitable similarities in their personalities and patterns.  Someone who uses IP tracking will notice that they are using the same computer.   The best approach is to keep the sites you visit as different as possible.  This can be hard, particularly if the whole point of your secret Xanga is to anonymously engage someone you know.

4.  Don't comment on your own posts.
This would be weird for lots of reasons.  I never do it.

5.  Don't play guessing games.
The badboyprofessor is not the same person as thetheologianscafe. 
No, really. I don't even know him. 
"But he's on your friends list."
He friended me. 
Really, I never comment on his posts.
"Wasn't that your point number 4?"
I don't even read them.
Well, you get the point.  

Do you have a secret Xanga?
Perhaps you'd like to add some tips of your own. 
I don't blog here.  Really.  But do comment, please.