A clandestine undertaking on behalf of Israel, the Jets and the Jews.

 
The Orthodox Blogosphere

It's incredible how much the Orthodox blogosphere has changed since I started this blog less than 16 months ago, on May 8, 2003.

Then, there were three main Orthodox blogs: Hasidic Rebel, Protocols, and Unbroken Glass. Today, none of those three sites exists in its previous form.

Hasidic Rebel initially posted quick thoughts on various issues; his blogging style changed somewhat once he gained notoriety. It's close to a year now since he last posted; my guess is that with each post resulting in hundreds of comments and flame wars, blogging was taking up too much of his time and was no longer enjoyable for him. I owe thanks to HR for being the first to link to this blog, on its second day.

The demise of the old Protocols is unfortunate. Luke Ford was and is an interesting (and apparently permanent) guest blogger, but Steven Weiss is indispensable to the site.

The blog at Unbroken Glass remains, though the main content, the dating experiences of "She," ceased to be updated upon her marriage. "She" should compile them for commercial purposes; her stories are at least as interesting as the fictional Bridget Jones's Diary.

A very large number of Orthodox bloggers have recently joined the blogosphere. One thing that I think is unique to these blogs is the disproportionate number of them that are anonymous.

While it's every blogger's prerogative to choose to keep his or her identify private, I think overall the anonymity is unfortunate. There's too much conformity within Orthodoxy to one's own circles - not just on matters of religion but on cultural and political matters too - and I wonder whether the motivation of some of those who choose to be anonymous is based on a desire to have an outlet to express their real views without anyone in their community reading them.

In any event, Steven Weiss posted about all this on Fiddish a little while back, so I won't belabor the point.

Incidentally, it's doubtful whether anonymity is even effective. One of the Orthodox bloggers criticized by Weiss was Chayyei Sarah. While I don't know Chayyei Sarah at all, based on the information she posted about herself, it was obvious, at least to me, who she is. Likely, someone who knows an anonymous blogger will very quickly be able to ascertain their identity.
posted on 9/02/2004