Fake blogs or real blogs…does it really matter?

On Sunday, U.S. PhD student, Tom MacMaster, confessed to creating the popular “Gay Girl in Damascus” blog under the pseudonym Amina Abdallah Arraf. The blog highlighted the growing concerns about life in Syria including such topics as women and gay rights.

Last week, on the blog’s host website, a fictional family member reported a kidnapping involving Amina Abdallah Arraf and three armed men. Many of “her” followers were panicked and even created a Facebook group entitled “Free Amina Abdallah” which gathered thousands of supporters.

Once the fraud was revealed, the public has become naturally outraged. On the issue, MacMaster offered an apology for readers, but stated that

While the narrative voice may have been fictional, the facts on this blog are true and not misleading as to the situation on the ground…I do not believe that I have harmed anyone – I feel that I have created an important voice for issues that I feel strongly about.

hmmmm… not misleading, eh?

Well, it is another reminder of how cautious one needs to be on the Web, best summed up by the classic Steiner cartoon below.