Technology | 2009.11.18
'I was Belle de Jour's secret ally'
British blogger called Darren worked out identity of blogging sensation but kept it secret for almost six years
When Belle de Jour , the famous call girl turned blogger and publishing sensation outed herself as a Bristol-based research scientist last weekend, one man was less surprised than the rest of us.
In an intriguing twist to a story which has already had more than its fair share of them, it emerged today that a British blogger solved the hotly debated mystery of Belle\'s identity soon after Dr Brooke Magnanti began writing her diary of an escort in 2003 – then resolved to help keep her secret.
The sympathetic online diarist, who gives his name only as Darren, quickly concluded that the author was "somebody who knew quite a lot about how UK blogging worked at the time" and was therefore likely to be among the tiny handful of already-established bloggers.
Contrary to speculation over the years, he "never believed that a professional writer could be BdJ – apparently effortless blog writing takes practice, and required an understanding of a new medium which not many people had at the time. So I asked myself: \'Which blogger is it?\' "
Darren, who has blogged at LinkMachineGo.com since 2000, told the Guardian he never personally met Magnanti, but said he knew her scientific blogs well. A short piece of fiction about whisky she posted on one site convinced him she was also Belle de Jour.
Darren not only decided to keep Magnanti\'s secret, he also laid a tripwire for anyone who might come looking for her.
On his own blog, he set up a "Googlewhack" of Belle de Jour and Brooke Magnanti, creating the only page on the internet where the two terms appeared together in an unrelated context. Because his software alerted him to the IP address of those accessing his site, he was able to monitor anyone Googling the two terms.
For five years, to his surprise, only a few did. "I always thought that it might have been her searching or other bloggers who had also worked out her identity, but never from the press," he said.
However, several weeks ago he spotted searches originating from an IP address at Associated Newspapers, publishers of the Daily Mail, and contacted Magnanti to warn her the paper was on her tail.
Magnanti commented this week, "[Darren\'s] message convinced me it was serious." She contacted a journalist at the rival Sunday Times and offered them an exclusive interview .
Darren professed himself pleased to have played a part in what he called "the greatest story in the history of blogging, and probably the biggest literary puzzle in the UK this century".
He wrote on his blog: "It\'s not every day the biggest secret you\'ve ever kept gets revealed on the front pages of the national press."
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/200[...]/belle-de-jour-identity-secret
