Amir-Ebrahimi 339problem. You should see how many emails I have received,
offering me help: legal, financial or personal help. Many attor-
neys offered to take my defense free of charge. And of course I
also received many insults, attacks and violent comments! But
to explain everything to you, I can tell you about an email that
said: “You are just like our neighbor, a poor woman who has
the same problem as you have. I don’t care much about her,
because I don’t know her. But I lived with you and your chil-
dren for three years in Weblogistan; I know many things about
you and your children. Now they are not just your children,
but they are also ours, they are the children of Weblogistan, so
we should help you.” (Nooshi va Joojehash—telephone inter-
view 2005, http://www.nooshi.ir/)ome months later, Nooshi had to stop blogging, because her blog S
was used against her in court. She has claimed that one day she will restart
it, because weblog writing has changed her life.
ommunal life in Weblogistan, like real life, is sometimes full of C
animosity, hostility, violence, or the revelation of private information
that could be harmful and destructive. Yet nine years of living and acting
together has also brought about ethical norms, a higher level of tolerance,
and new kinds of “red lines” that must not be transgressed. According to
my interviews and focus groups, many bloggers thought that when they
started to write their blog, it would be a personal experience, like a diary.
But as soon as they were discovered and their link was added to other
blogs, and they began to have their own readers and to receive comments
and emails, they could experience a new kind of presence in the virtual
world, one that was related to the presence of the “others.” For many of
them it was also a process of disclosure of the self in front of others. This
experience brought about new consciousness about the self and more tol-
erance toward others.
Who’s behind the blog?
A weblog begins with a name and an address, sometimes based on the real
name of the blogger and sometimes using a pseudonym. This name and