Valleywag writes:

Violet Blue, a popular local blogger, columnist, sex educator and contributor to Gawker Media’s smutty sister Fleshbot, seems to have rubbed someone at Boing Boing the wrong way. She discovered that nearly all the posts on the site that mentioned her or her work had disappeared — save for one, a post from last year on the Top 10 Sex Memes from 2006. Shortly after that post was discovered via Google site search, it disappeared as well.

Boing Boing certainly hasn’t gotten squeamish about sexuality if today’s post about a Miami “brothel bus” is any indication. Why is the disappearance an issue? Because Boing Boing wields the awesome power of traffic and Google PageRank, and to bestow such benefits on a blogger and then take them away can be a severe punishment in terms of advertising and affiliate business lost.

Found via Tomorrow Museum, where Joanne McNeil provides additional context and commentary. You can find my comments about the potentially sexist angle of all of this there.

But of greater concern to me is that it happened in the first place and what it means. Like Valleywag says, BB wields a lot of power. They are not just some amateur, DIY fly-by-night blog. They are a professional media organization with the reach and readership of major magazine or newspaper. And it’s hard to read their actions as anything less than an attempt to damage Violet Blue’s livelihood by reducing traffic to her site. They still link to some other raunchy stuff, and to the sex writer Susannah Breslin extensively, so it’s not likely they took the links down at the bequest of an advertiser. And a computer glitch that just happens to delete all posts that link to tinynibbles.com (but nothing else?) seems unlikely (and something they’d have made a statement about by now).

Further, it doesn’t seem that BB is above taking down links to sites runs by people who disagree with them. Rex Sorgatz claims that BB linked to something on his site (I’m guessing this which is still linked at BB Gadgets) because of this post criticizing BB.

Obviously BB has the right to post, not post, or delete whatever they want from their site. But something about all this leaves a fowl taste in my mouth. It’s just bad practice for a professional media outlet bully people like this. “If you say not-nice stuff about us, we’ll take down your links and never link to you again,” is what they seem to be saying. Joanne speculates that bloggers will be quiet about VB being purged from the site because they don’t want to risk the same fate. I hope this is not the case. So far there’s been quite a bit of criticism, but little (if anything) so far from BB’s “in crowd.” (Valleywag, remember, is published by Gawker media, who publish Fleshbot, for which VB writes.)

Update: BB replies

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From today’s Disinfo newsletter:

Disinformation launched in October 2007 a new “user-driven” version of our site which gives Disinfonauts more freedom and flexibility to post news, vote for stories, and feedback. We’ve been thrilled at your response which continues to grow in recent weeks: YouTube clips, commentary on breaking issues and more. As part of the next phase, I’m stepping down from my past role as site editor to pursue some other projects in the coming months which you can keep track of at my personal site alexburns.net. Publisher Gary Baddeley, Ralph Bernardo and the rest of the Disinformation team will continue this newsletter in a weekly format, with news on Disinformation’s 2008 releases and events, including the new book You Are Still Being Lied To. When Richard Metzger and Gary Baddeley asked me to write for Disinformation in 1998 it was a truly life-changing experience. I’ve been lucky since November 1999 to collaborate with writers and other Disinfonauts in an editorial role. I look forward to seeing the Disinformation community grow more with your insights and support. If the agenda-setting media gives you 3 viewpoints, and our earlier versions gave you 30, I hope to see this bloom with the new “user-driven” Disinformation into 3 million.

You’ll be missed, Alex.

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EPISODE 14 :: “Cutupteralti”

Bill Whitcomb and Edward Fenris get their ideas cut to pieces, glued back together. [Appendix]

Duration :: 00:27:53
Download :: MP3 (31.916MB)
Hosts :: Brenden Simpson, Wu

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EPISODE 9 :: “Mercury Retrograde”

Returning guests Freeman and Nick Pell talk on nomadicism, the roots of control, and EsoZone conspiracy.

Duration :: 00:37:00
Download :: MP3 (33.875MB)

Hosts :: Brenden Simpson, Wu

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EPISODE 8 :: “Amateur Surgery”

An Infictive tribute to the hyperwiki authors, featuring readings by and of a diverse cast of characters.

Duration :: 00:40:24
Download :: MP3 (36.991MB)

Host :: A Voice of Infictive

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You’ve been listening to us from across the room, haven’t you? OCCULTERATI understands. You’re a little shy? Aw, that’s sweet. How about you just have a drink with us, and we’ll see where iT goes?

EPISODE 3 :: “Sexerati”
Toxick Muse and Ember Faye talk on sex and morality, the two least controversial topics we could think of.

Duration :: 00:31:37
Download :: MP3 (43MB)

(Post-post Disclaimer: Description of the show may not reflect reality of show feelings toward you. Listener satisfaction may vary. A production of Brenico Media Group in association with esoZone.)

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The feeling that swells up deep inside you when the theme music cues in? That’s natural. Just go with iT, because, baby, there is no denying us: the sensation rocking the late-night radio nation (and your heart) is OCCULTERATI.

EPISODE 2 :: “Synchronotic”
Freeman and Rev. Gabriel Wilsonliams discuss the power of synchronicity, changing the world, and fringe science.

Duration :: 00:31:19
Download :: MP3 (35MB)

(Post-post Disclaimer: Description of the show may not reflect reality of your feelings toward the show. Listener satisfaction may vary. A production of Brenico Media Group in association with esoZone.)

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If so, you too can hear all the most salacious news from the world of the chaotic, the synchronotic, the semiotic, and the occultic on OCCULTERATI!

Just what can you expect from Occulterati? Headlines like these tell the full story: “Ex Sues Klintron A Second Time,” “Chris Titan’s Only Just Begun,” “Wes Unruh Seeks Treatment,” “Brendeklint: Together Again!”

EPISODE I :: “Foolish Persons” John Harrigan and Nick Pell discuss situationist threatre, esotechnology, and enochian magicks.

Duration :: 00:32:56
Download :: MP3 (31MB)

(Post-post Disclaimer: Description of this show may not reflect reality of show contents. Listener satisfaction may vary. A production of Brenico Media Group in association with esoZone.)

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Breaking occulterati gossip, from the Disinfo newsletter:

At the end of last week, Disinfo Books editor Jason Louv decided to leave us to focus on some new Ultraculture projects, which will include animation and a new collaborative book. Many of you know Louv as the editor of Generation Hex, the influential anthology on next generation magicians. It’s a book that TDC co-founder and ‘wicked warlock’ Richard Metzger raved about for months as one of the most alchemical we’ve released. I agree and want to thank Louv for bringing some inspiration and renewal to the TDC team at an important transition. I’ve posted some thoughts on Louv’s Disinfo stint here, also check out his Viking Youth Power Hour podcast, and visit the Ultraculture site. Given Louv’s emphasis on real-world projects and physical manifestations of magick, we’ll be no doubt hearing from him soon.

Update: I e-mailed Jason, and he’s mum on the details of what’s he’s working on now. But I consulted my tarot deck, and it says that whatever Jason’s working on, lots and lots of crunk juice is involved. That is all.

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