348 Mediated Publics
some female bloggers who have experienced free expression and inter-
action, a return to the limitations of the real world is far more difficult
than accepting the consequences of “being oneself” in virtual space.
Confronted with the pressures of family, colleagues or the government,
some female bloggers have to abandon their primary weblog and start
a new one with a pseudonym or a new address. Others accept the situa-
tion and consequences of their blogging and continue to write as before,
because their experience in virtual space is too important to let it go.
This weblog was supposed to be a window for unspoken
words, for those things that I couldn’t or wouldn’t say, to write
those unspoken words that can’t be uttered in front of “elders”
because they judge against their own standards. Initially,
when the writer of Carpe Diem was just a name, everything
was really good. However, it gradually became more difficult.
The temptation to see the rest of the names resulted in Ayda’s
name slowly acquiring a particular face. ... For a while, I didn’t
like this. I didn’t want to have to censor myself in my own
little world. However, I slowly got used to it. Not to censor-
ship, no. But to being myself and to not think of people who
judge me based on my writings when I write. (carpe diem—
Ayda, 24 February 2004, translated by http://www.Badjens.com. This
weblog does not exist anymore.)s was the last post by Ayda, one of the editors of the book, Thi
Weblogistan: The Crystal City, and a participant in my focus groups. After
this post, written a year after the focus group, she closed down her blog. I
have heard she now has another blog, with another pseudonym and new
readers. She still writes about “freedom”; but after her previous experi-
ence, she has chosen to no longer reveal her identity on her blog.
Conclusion
With the end of the Iran–Iraq war in 1988, a transient public sphere has
gradually emerged in Iran, which has paradoxically become permanent
in its provisory aspect. This new public sphere that emerged with the new