Do You have a Pen Name? Do You Publish Under a Pen Name?

There is a certain freedom to publishing a book under a pen name. There is also a freedom that comes with publishing under your regular name.  The question could be asked, which is better for online publishing?

As an example: I write this blog, but I have other interests better served by writing and publishing under a pen name.  I am also interested in history, and for that audience, I would probably want to write a more research oriented blog than this one.  I would also likely write in a very different style than I would here.

Should I write in those two different styles as one person, or should I create a pen name for one or the other?

This being the online world, I would need to work at building some sort of “profile” with that pen name all the while keeping it separate from my “real name.”  I don’t think a problem but rather a bit of a challenge to maintain both identities if I were to publish under two different names.

I’ve debated for a few years whether to write everything under my real name or have several alias. 

Frankly I’ve not had a good chance to decide, but it has come up on my radar more so over the last few months.  Travel and commentary on travelling are the main reasons for thinking about this.  This does mean that if I do make a mistake and find that my pen name isn’t what I should be doing, it is hopefully confined to the online world but that might help me long term as well.

Would you publish your writing under a pen name, or do you think that this isn’t something you would want to do?