Putting the “Anonymous” Blog Story to Bed

Wayne Hoffman having a guest post over at Huckleberries online puts the blog anonyminity story to bed:

Let me add some detail to this very odd debate. The Idahoan was never an “anonymous” blog. When my friend and I registered it, we did so as a joint business venture. Twice during the creation of The Idahoan, we were faced with options to conceal the identity of the people behind the blog. We could have registered on a blogging website, where names, real or made up, are not required. We could have chosen to make our registration information private. We did neither. In fact, we also registered our web page as a business venture with the Idaho Secretary of State.

By March, things had changed dramatically for both of us. Unrelated business ventures and, most obviously for me, new jobs, created issues for the daily upkeep of a website. At the same time, The Idahoan grew considerably in popularity. I didn’t really want to shut it off. We invited other conservatives to participate, and the founders’ role in the day-to-day Idahoan has been pretty minimal. Though our names are still listed as owners, others have collectively taken on the role of bloggers. Have I contributed to a blog post since March? Yes. Do I do so on a regular basis? No. Do I help edit or add input on some blog items? Yes. Do I do that all the time? No.

There’s no conspiracy here. There’s no coverup. The fact that someone “discovered” that which we made public months ago would be amusing, except for the absurd and insulting charges of misconduct made by an unnamed blogger.

The simple fact is, my boss, Bill Sali, has been very, very successful in his seven months in office. His opponents can’t stand it. Thus, they felt the need to attack someone associated with the congressman, namely me.

And I think, too someone who is such an asset to the Congressman. This is one of the key parts of this story, and part of the reason for the attack on competent staff. I still wonder who the anonymous source of this story was. No doubt, Mr. Hoffman’s competency in his job will probably earn him the Karl Rove treatment. Stay strong.

Alan at Idablue goes on in some detail about anonymous bloggers, never considering that he’s semi-anonymous. What do we have of Alan? A first name and a picture of him in a hat mainly. How many Alans are there in the Boise-Meridian-Kuna area? He anonymously snuck into the Bill Sali labor day picnic.

Jill at New Wests asks some questions about anonymous blogging that are worth addressing:

Is anonymous blogging a good or bad thing, or neither?

Neither. While MGR is anonymous, it can give a blogger some mystery and mystery’s a good thing. I like Random Yak, though I don’t know who he really is. So it’s really about your reasons and what’s going on.

When you read an anonymous blog, how much credibility do you give it?

Depends, anonymous blogs quoting anonymous sources are doubtful and troubling. Certainly if a blog is set up to attack someone, you have to wonder whether the blogger’s got an axe to grind, and I’m very unlikely to trust them if that’s a possibility.

Should federal employees be allowed to blog at all?

Sure. They give up plenty of other civic rights. (No yard signs for instance.) They shouldn’t have to give up blogging.

What do we think of voluntary standards – a sort of Code of Conduct for bloggers?

To address what? I could see a group getting together and starting a small club and all the bloggers in the club agree to a code of conduct, and you know if you’re reading a blog with AAB seal, it’s agreed to the code. But what’s it supposed to accomplish or solve? I’d need an argument for that, and I haven’t heard anything that would make me think this was necessary.