I can understand why people would shut their blogs down. Anonymity is the blood of the blogosphere. When that is threatened then people need to protect themselves. Still, it is sad to see some of the more rational voices, such as Thursday (as I learned today from In Mala Fide http://www.inmalafide.com/2010/11/02/voting-in-mala-fide-or-why-im-supporting-carl-paladino/#comment-27647) shutting their blog down because they have been recognized. So we can add Vasafaxa (Eve’s Library) to those ranks too, at least for now. Ashleekaren (No Sex in my City) also had a new blog that was fun and that seems to have been shut down too, at least for now.

For me, blogging is entertainment. I don’t take this seriously. I do it mostly for myself and enjoy when others derive some pleasure from my writings. How can you take anything online, in an anonymous world, too seriously? This is why I enjoy Rivelino’s http://alpharivelino.wordpress.com/ blog so much, because it is pure entertainment, even though perhaps he does not intend it to be. I would like to think of myself as entertaining people in some way, adding some nice and pleasant distraction in an already difficult and troublesome world. Talking about love and sex, writing erotic pieces,  or just making someone feel a little bit special with my “special” posts are things I enjoy about this.

But as forum for serious discussion and intellectual content, no. I have read too many blogs and seen the acrimony that arises which, in this strange world of the internet, can become toxic and quite disturbing. So I stay away from that. I prefer to have my debates with people I can see face to face or at least know something about in a more transparent forum.

So I am sorry to see some nice blogs go away. I hope new ones arise and people won’t feel compelled to hide in fear from recognition, even though I can understand anonymity being paramount in a world like this. People can talk openly about their ideas or lives on their blogs precisely because they can feel safe from personal retribution or ridicule; those who threaten to violate that code of anonymity should themselves be ostracized from this realm.  In a world already suffocating too much in PC madness, blogs are one place where people can feel like they can speak freely and that needs to be protected vigorously.