does it matter? It matters, if only to blogger. There is therapeutic value in blogging (similar to keeping a diary or journaling). Good, quality content will build traffic. There are exceptions of course. You don’t always need good, quality content….

On an aside, I have now had a few phone conversations with Mr. Brian Connolly. He has called me now more than I’ve called him. I doubt he is writing the blog. I do think he supports the right of someone to write Strumpy for a multitude of reasons.  I gather from our conversations that Brian is, if even unwittingly as a hosting reseller, hosting the blog.  No harm there.  He is in business and someone bought space on his servers.

Now, anyone that hosts a blog using Domains By Proxy could have a good reason for not wanting people to see their home or business address, email addresses and phone numbers.  But, to me, it is incumbent upon them to post their real names and some form of contact info on their blog if they decide to participate in personal attacks on others.  Now, is anyone really going to argue that point with me?

Hey, I support the right of self-expression, too. The lack of transparency, which Mr. Connolly disdains (trust me, he made that very clear in the most recent phone conversation), is not something I agree with, though.

Yes, the author has every right to post anonymously. They also, by posting, make themselves open to criticism and attempts to discover who they are. It is the nature of the online beast.

I have no overwhelming desire to ferret out the author of Strumpy. I only posted the IP of the commenter at the top of this thread because I think anonymity, when making attacks, is a petty, childish and irresponsible behavior. The lack of transparency, when occuring in relation to public relations makes the act of hiding even more ludicrous.

If you do not have the character to post your name along with your posts and comments, then do us all a favor and keep to yourself. Anyone that engages in, or supports, such behavior will never gain any respect.

Respect? Character? Decency? Anonymous cowards will never even know what those words really mean.

Fard, thanks for the trackback. I addressed the confusion in a comment at Envisioning 2.0. Thank you for being patient. You were not taken in. Not at all. The relationships just weren’t clearly defined when I first called Mr. Connolly.

Kristen, you will not get any argument from me on your comments. The majority of my students are women and they certainly won’t be pleased with the tone of Strumpy’s site. Just read Erin Caldwell’s post at Forward-Moving.com for one example. Erin says, “This whole episode just makes me roll my eyes and cry out, ‘UGH!’” Trust me, she wants to do more than say “UGH!”

Jeremy, thanks for the comment and link. Hey, I know where you are coming from and where you stand. You always bring any conversation back to sound thought. Thanks for doing that, too.

Kami, forgive me, you are right. I am under an NyQuil induced haze right now from a cold. I am guessing that I must have added the “nofollow” after initially publishing. That seems to be the only reasonable explanation. Certainly you are right that leaving the link out is the best way to avoid giving anyone undeserved attention. So, I will take from this that anyone who follows the link to my blog for a take on the Strumpette will certainly not leave with any belief that I support, condone, or find funny, the juvenile nonsense that is Strumpy.

I’m flabbergasted.

kindly,
kirsten
ceo
re:invention, inc.
http://www.reinventioninc.com

And, yes, I was part of that noise via commenting, but hey, at least I blogged on a PR issue over the weekend.