She came at a time when the industry was SO focused on the Doctrine of Transparency, that her Opacity was a cardinal sin - nay, a mortal sin.

An earlier debut, and she rides the early wave that helped define many of the rules she later broke. Perhaps in molding and framing those arguments then, and an anonymous entity might have made a better case for survival and relevance.

If Strumpette were born in 2008, there would be more than enough cynicism and gritty reality ready to accept her with open arms - or at least give her a chance.

Instead, destiny dropped her within a very narrow slice of time where the rules of “community” were locked in, and were stacked solidly against her existence. Yet it was also the time when the tools and syntax of Social Media were hatching beyond the initial nests - when dangerous groupthink and cliquish behavior were threatening to turn an evolution into a revolution. Instead of a brave new frontier of applied technology, we nearly had a Brave New World of orthodoxy, mindless chatter, and vicious sameness.

Amanda Chapel was equally vicious — and in many instances, more crude and cruel than necessary. The naked tart who dared to tell the self-anointed Emperors they had no clothes did so simultaneously with brilliant wit and gutter tactics. *That* is the price you pay when you create a character with many actors/actresses playing the part. I once met Naughty Amanda and Nice Amanda within the same day - a split personality that may have been the undoing.

I can’t speak for Brian Connolly, but it must be exhausting to crank out that much material on a consistent basis. It must be even more exhausting managing the rotating vast of volunteers who took turns trying on Amanda’s wardrobe. (Disclosure: I wrote one piece for Strumpette, and it was under my name.)

Maybe now that Amanda’s curtain has fallen, someone else can put the energy into keeping the spirit of the site alive. A place where ideas and ideals carry more merit than linkrank, and the tough questions of the day are exposed for all to see. Naked, indeed.

Let’s hope this news about Strumpette is a “time out” and not “game over.” There’s so much to save. I tried to express my feelings at my own blog earlier today, but I ended the piece by linking here. A very nice essay.

Your Strumpette posts just got better and better. I’m a huge fan of your work.

And the answer to your question:

“Is there a need, a real desire for a PR forum that encourages incendiary thought, that challenges convention and demands accountability?”

is: Yes!