There's been a bit of a dust-up in the local blog world this past week, specifically the arena of Portland food.

It appears the anonymous author of Portland Psst! has been unmasked!

Ooooh we got some juicy TMZ business right here in our backyard!

For those of you not keeping score at home, over the last year Portland Psst! has become a blog as well known for it's whit and insight into the local food scene as well as it's at times nasty attitude.

But the tone of the blog and the spotlight on Portland's growing food culture scene seemed to spark interest in the blog as well as the identity of it's writer from fans and critics alike.

In this case it was Erik Desjarlais, chef and former owner of Bandol, who pulled back the curtain and revealed PSST! to be Peter Smith. The two have gone at each other online before, the chef is currently in the process of opening up a new restaurant by the name of Evangeline here in Portland.

The PSST and I have had our own share of rivaling blog mentions - the online version of playing The Dozens - but for the most part I enjoyed the read but took most of what I saw with a grain of salt. (No pun intended)

When it appeared as if the jig was up for PSST earlier this week, it looked like the blog would fade into the oblivion (or "bolivion" as Mike Tyson might say) that all un-updated blogs fall into.
But it looks like PSST has returned, and perhaps with a new disposition.

As many forum posters, online gamerz and regulars in the Press Herald comment section will tell you, the veil of anonymity provides a great security blanket to be as honest or incendiary as you'd like.
Being anonymous online is an easy thing to do initially, but increasingly it's becoming more difficult to do if you invite any scrutiny. Some use the Interwebs as a shield for whistleblowing, others just as a soap box for friendly criticism, and some use it to do battle.

We've seen this all play out before, with the unmasking of Fake Steve Jobs last year as one of the more recent examples.

Of course with restaurants and food the rules can be different. Often restaurant reviewers from publications will be unknown, and in cities such as New York, anonymous food bloggers are seen as a scourge and source of vital information.

Maybe Portland's just a small town. Maybe it was only a matter of time before one of Psst!'s targets found out the secret identity of the writer and went public. Maybe that's the nature of all things that are secret, particularly anonymous blogs. If I was cynical (or using an alias) I could say it was destined to happen.

In particular the argument - especially from journalistic corners - says if you can't show your face or associate your name with something, what are you hiding and why should anyone believe you.

The Interwebs has changed a lot of that as unnamed blogs garner attention, not to mention news organizations who use unnamed sources. Maybe it's hypocrisy.

So that leaves my question to you, blog reading public – is there such a thing as a right to being anonymous online? Is there a layer of mistrust that comes from not using your real name? When you run the game as a masked-vigilante online are you asking to be exposed?

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