culture / News

Mystery in the Blogosphere

The Portly Politico91 Comments

The big news rocking the blogosphere is the sudden disappearance and/or deletion of the blog Renard’s World.  For the uninitiated, Renard Moreau is to WordPress blogging as Tom was to MySpace; somehow, no matter who you were or how active your blog, Renard would follow you, and you’d follow Renard.

From what I could gather, Renard was (is?) from somewhere in the Caribbean (Trinidad and Tobago, I think), and would write mostly about blogging, as well as some stuff about blogging on Linux versus Windows or iOS.  He was a WordPress loyalist, but was also quick to point out the many, many bugs that seemed to creep in with each update (I’m still not sure if people can comment on my blog, and there’s no rhyme or reason as to which other WordPress blogs are commenting-friendly or not).  He also would always write, “the God/Goddess’s honest truth,” which seemed to fit into his quirky way of writing, which always featured short, terse sentences that usually double as paragraphs.

Renard was posting as usual just a few days ago—I received the typical e-mail updates as usual—but his blog vanished sometime earlier this week.  As of the time of writing (a little before 9 PM on Tuesday, 14 May 2024), here is what readers will see if they attempt to visit Renard’s World:

Renard's World

What’s gotten everyone abuzz is that Renard had given no warning or indication that he planned to delete his blog—well, perhaps not.

In doing a bit of reading and searching, I noticed that Renard wrote a post on Friday, 10 May 2024 entitled “The Gravity of Deleting a Blog.”  Unfortunately, it does not seem to be archived on The Wayback Machine, and Renard—like a true WordPress blogger—only published the lede for his posts in e-mails, and yours portly did not read the post (it was one I wanted to read—what a fascinating topic!—but I never got around to it, and I unceremoniously deleted the e-mail).  As such, all I have is the following:

Renard's World - Deleting a Blog

Renard (who always referred to himself in the third person in this preview e-mails) “wants bloggers to think before deleting their blogs.”  Perhaps Renard had thought it through, and, in the spirit of his succinct writing style, deleted his blog.  Perhaps this post was his warning.

But I cannot say.  The buzz on WordPress is that it seems unthinkable that he would pull the plug without some definitive announcement or declaration.  It’s possible WordPress banned him for some reason, but given the benign nature of his content, that seems unlikely.  The prevailing theory seems to be that there is a glitch of some kind, but that’s not necessarily comforting, either—if a major blog like Renard’s World can disappear into the Internet ether (the “Ethernet”?) with so little warning, what does that mean for the rest of us?

Of course, blogs also run their course.  Often, they simply fade away, rather than implode—a slow tapering off from posting content, or even an abrupt cessation of posts.  These tend to be deaths of indifference, or perhaps short-term hiatuses that turn, day after day and year after year, into permanent silence.  In the latter case, there’s always that notion of “I’ll return to it someday”; indeed, yours portly did that with this blog, which actually got its start in 2009 on Blogger!

But deleting a blog is an intentional act.  It’s an act with finality, from which there is no (easy) coming back.  Some speculation among bloggers is that Renard was simply ready to hang it up, but there’s a great deal of surprise at its sudden deletion (if, in fact, it was deleted intentionally).  As several bloggers have noted, Renard doesn’t owe anyone an explanation, and it’s his choice to delete it; it’s just taken everyone by surprise.

The simplest explanation—Renard pulled the plug—is probably the likeliest, but the intrigue is that Renard seemed like the last blogger to do so.  We only know our Internet acquaintances dimly, though, and in a way, it doesn’t seem entirely out-of-character (for, admittedly, a man I don’t know—see also the sentiment expressed at the beginning of this sentence!).

I hope to see Renard back.  I also hope we get some definitive answers, though who knows?  If anyone managed to screenshot or save Renard’s post “The Gravity of Deleting a Blog,” it might provide some clues.  If you have, please send along a transcript to me.

If there is some heinous glitch, backup your blogs.  Gulp!

91 thoughts on “Mystery in the Blogosphere”

    • I’m kicking myself for not reading it last Friday. It was a super busy day at work, and then I just cleared a bunch of e-mails that evening without thinking to revisit it. Surely somehow downloaded it or the like. Given Renard’s reach, there’s some blogging enthusiast out there who has printed his posts to PDF or the like.

      That post might just be happenstance, but it would be interesting to see if Renard was dropping some clues in his own terse way.

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  2. https://smokeofsatan.wordpress.com/

    The Smoke of Satan blog pings all the triggers that drive liberals loony, and it still exists as a WordPress blog. I doubt that Renard got censored out of existence.

    I would gamble that it hit him hard how much of his life had been wasted being a blogger. Posting cat memes on Facebook or scrolling TikTok videos is a better use of your time.

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    • Charlie—I wanted to let you know that I have been reading your blog and have attempted commenting on a number of occasions, but I don’t think WordPress is posting or accepting them (even when it says a comment has been made successfully). It seems WordPress’s super inconsistent commenting feature has reared its bug-riddled head once again.

      Regardless, I wanted to let you know that I appreciate your content—and your distinctive, curmudgeonly style. The story of your trip to D.C. had me in more stitches than a pork barrel omnibus spending bill.

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  3. I have followed Renard for years. His blog disappeared some time on Monday UK time and the last post he aired but I did not read was on that day when I did some Google searching to try and see what has happened to Renard. His blog gone sometime after that.

    What you say about Renard and area he comes from you are correct on.

    That post regarding deleting blog, I read briefly. But there was nothing that came across to me that he was hinting on deleting his blog.

    Renard is not one for deleting his blog without letting his readers know that it’s going to happen. That is what he has preached for years. So with how WordPress has been, I couldn’t help think it was more of a glitch.

    If Renard has deleted his blog, it is of course his choice. But I am sad he did not let us know it was the end like he has always preached on his blog to let your readers know whether on a break, ending blog etc… But with knowing how he was very active and motivated by his blog, supporting his readers and visiting blogs to support them by leaving comments, I can’t help but feel worried and hoping Renard is ok, like other bloggers are wishing and hoping the same that he is ok.

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    • Thank you for your insights, Liz. Yes, I think what makes it all so mysterious is that Renard was very vocal about transparency in blogging. I suspect that part of our collective curiosity (and, perhaps, frustration) is that, if he *did* delete his blog, he did so without offering the rest of us closure.

      Again, that’s his right—none of us *really* know each other online, nor do we owe each other anything—but that’s a hard medicine to take; indeed, we choke on it. I would not rule out a WordPress glitch, but he could have just decided to end it abruptly for reasons we may never know.

      Thanks for your comment, Liz.

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      • You’re welcome.

        It will be sad if he has decided to go. It will be another who I will feel his presence gone that will be felt for some time. But main thing is knowing he is just ok.

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        • Agreed. My thought is that if he did delete it, it’s an indication that he is likely “okay” in at least a physical sense. If he simply stopped posting but the blog remained live, it would almost be *more* disconcerting, because it would open the possibility that he suffered some calamity.

          Still, I am praying all is well with good ol’ Renard. If he is gone, you’re right—it will leave a hole in the WordPress blogosphere that won’t be filled again quickly.

          One thought: there’s been huge amounts of “buzz” around Renard’s disappearance. Could it be that Renard has deleted the blog temporarily so that, upon republication, there’s a surge of new traffic? To be clear, I don’t think that is what is going on here, and Renard doesn’t seem like the sort to resort to such dire promotional tactics. But it’s a possibility I have not seen floated in the various pieces I’ve read on the subject so far.

          Again, I don’t think that’s what is happening, but at this point, anything seems possible.

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          • Yes, I can understand that tatic and possible. Although I would be shocked if Renard used that himself as he does not seem to be that type of person who would do that.

            And I agree with your other perspective that had his blog still been live, but silent. Then yes, all the more worrying.

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  4. Thanks for linking to my post about this. You wrote it even better than I did! Great points.

    I’ve never read that post as far as I remember. I wanted to but I’ve had several conversations with Renard about never wanting to delete our current blogs. He has basically sworn this and he’s very stubborn. Or extremely stubborn, really 😂.

    The latest posts from him has changed in nature as well, so haven’t read them as thoroughly as I should’ve. They’ve been more complicated in wording for no apparent reason in my view.

    I’ve also been so busy lately and extremely tired that I haven’t really put the time in to read his posts. Now I feel stupid for doing so.

    I also don’t subscribe through email from anybody so I don’t have a copy of any of his posts.

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    • My pleasure! I think yours was one of the first posts I read about Renard’s site going down.

      That is interesting regarding the change in tone and style in recent posts. Perhaps Renard handed the reins over to someone else? Or perhaps it was indicative of burnout?

      Who knows. It seems like we’re all just reading the tea leaves.

      Don’t feel stupid because you missed some of his posts. We all get busy. If anything, it’s a good reminder that we should read each other more frequently, because we never know when a blog might get deleted or go silent. I also think engagement among bloggers keeps blogging fresh, and makes burnout and discouragement less likely.

      Of course, Renard was not lacking in engagement. It seems likely that, for whatever reason or reasons, he decided to stop. Still, that’s not a satisfying answer, I suspect because so many of us expected some closure. Unfortunately, it’s something we might never get.

      Thanks for commenting, AM!

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      • You’re welcome!

        I only wanted to add that the feeling I got from the later posts from him was that they’d actually be written by AI, also another thing he swore to never do.

        Still, I have no idea what an AI blog post looks like, but he went from writing plainly and personal to using so many complicated words it felt like a dictionary I Arabic or something. I just mentioned that language because I don’t speak it at all. It was very weird indeed.

        He has also struggled with some WordPress bugs where posts disappeared and reappearing out of nowhere. I got notifications that a post was published and when I went to read it, it was gone.

        It’s a real mystery indeed!

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        • Very interesting, AM! Yes, his style was very distinct, in part because it was so terse and succinct. He wrote in one-sentence paragraphs with very plain English (and a kind of peculiar grammatical structure that I have encountered from other English-speaking Caribbeans).

          The shift to AI-sounding writing is peculiar. It seems out of place for Renard, but, again, how much do we really know about anyone online?

          I am familiar with some of his WordPress technical issues; that makes the notion that his blog “accidentally” got deleted or the like more plausible. I don’t think WordPress is shadow banning him or something; as Charlie noted in his comment, Renard’s material was incredibly tame and inoffensive (especially compared to the incendiary stuff Charlie and I write on our respective blogs—ha!). It would take a censor with an extremely sensitive constitution to find any fault with Renard’s writings.

          Mysteries abound! Let’s just pray Renard the man is safe and sound. Perhaps he is sipping some fruity beverage on the beaches of Trinidad and Tobago as we write.

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          • Yeah, no way he was censored! And let’s indeed hope for a positive result or at least some kind of conclusion to what happened here.

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                    • I already have an update. The email has been removed as well. Got a message saying I could not send it because it’s deleted.

                      I googled him as well, and I don’t remember if he’s active on social media, but all I could find has been deleted as well.

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                    • It looks like he might have retired. Scrubbing any trace of himself from other platforms definitely points away from a catastrophic WordPress glitch and towards an intentional deletion on his part.

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                    • Yes! It’s still hard to conceive of him doing that. All the more reason for the rest of us to soldier on with our respective blogs—and to make a point to engage with one another more frequently. Gotsta keep the blogosphere strong and active!

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                    • Amen! For what it’s worth, your writing is pretty easy to love! I can’t get on board with your “Trump” post—haha!—but I appreciated your perspective. I’ll have to explain to you sometime how the Electoral College works. It’s confusing even for Americans!

                      Regardless, I’ve really enjoyed your stuff. Your relationship posts are particularly interesting. I need to go back and read the dream one again; I had to skim it between classes the other day, but it seemed super intriguing and interesting!

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                    • 😂 I can’t please everybody. Regarding politics that’s such a sensitive subject as well.

                      I’ve had it explained to me multiple times, but I keep forgetting how it works. It really is a confusing system.

                      Interesting that you like my relationship posts. I’m gonna stop writing about that subject now because I’ve had enough 😝. Let’s hope for your sake then that I will start dating and let go of that fear so you can have great posts from me to read 😂.

                      I hope that did come out right. Did not mean to step on your toes or sound like an A-hole there. ❤️

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                    • Nor should you please everyone! You’ve gotta stay true to your convictions. We might disagree about politics, but I appreciate your perspective, and your willingness to state it.

                      Haha, basically, it’s a series of fifty State level elections. The candidate with the most votes in each State gets all of that State’s electoral votes (with the exceptions of Nebraska and Maine). The candidate with 270 Electoral Votes (half of the 435 total votes, plus one) wins the presidency.

                      Haha, yes, I saw that you were going to stop writing about it. I know you *say* you don’t want a boyfriend, but your dreams and blog posts *seem* to indicate otherwise—ha! But you know yourself better than anyone. The human heart is a complex thing.

                      No toe-stepping or a-holery detected! You’re very sweet. I appreciate you, AM!

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                    • Thank you for explaining it to me. I appreciate it.

                      😂 yeah, lots of other people think that I secretly want to date, but I get sick in my stomach at the thought. If people would believe that, I’d be grateful 😂, but I agree – it does seem like I would like to, don’t it?

                      Glad I did ok and not being a butt to you.

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                    • My pleasure! I tried to give the super basic version. I teach music, American history, US Government, and Economics at my little private school here in South Carolina, so I am used to explaining all of this stuff, haha.

                      Hahaha, well, if it makes you sick to your stomach, then maybe you don’t! Obviously, I should take you at your word, I just can’t help but notice the dreams and all that, haha! “Methinks thou dost protest too much,” that kind of thing. Maybe it’s because you want a very specific person, that the idea of dating other people is unappealing.

                      Haha, no, you were not a butt at all! I hope I have been kind to you as well.

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                    • 😂 yeah you never know. I do however know that IF I should date, it will be a person who’s got what I want so in some cases that’s totally true.

                      I dream last night I think that I asked for a kiss from Ed Sheeran and got it and then I wanted more 😝. Kisses are nice but you don’t need a boyfriend to get kisses.

                      You’ve been kind as well and I appreciate your honesty.

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                    • Haha, you don’t need a boyfriend/girlfriend to get kisses, but they’re better from someone you care about! Of course, it’s hard to turn down a good kiss—ha!

                      Good! We all need some more kindness.

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                    • So true. I don’t miss relationships but hugs and kisses I can miss from time to time.

                      And yeah, we could use more kindness.

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                    • Well, if I am ever in Sweden, I’ll be sure to give you a big hug. As for kisses, well… that might be a tad unprofessional! 😅

                      I try to live in a Christ-like manner. Lord knows I fail, hard and often, but it’s the ideal to strive towards.

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                    • Yeah, that’s probably very true. I don’t think he does social media, but I found his name on other platforms that very well could be him, but the profiles were deleted.

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                    • I know he clearly doesn’t do Twitter or Facebook. I think years ago he did one or both one time.
                      From googling, Pinterest came up in search that looked like it could be his. But nothing shown for it. But I can’t remember if he ever mentioned whether he tried there.

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                    • Yeah, I don’t have a memory of that either. I don’t know what he does for a living either, besides blogging. I don’t he made money off of it either.

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                    • Seeing as his address still had “wordpress” in the URL, it does not seem he had a paid plan, unless it’s possible to have a paid plan without a custom URL (if someone can enlighten me on that, I would appreciate it). It always seemed like he would be a prime candidate for monetization; his traffic must have been impressive.

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                    • Yeah, he did have the free plan, that I know. It is possible to not upgrade and use a domain and still use a paid plan, at least up to the explorer for $8 per month.

                      If you get the Creator plan, the url changes to a staging name, so you’re pretty much set to be using a domain if you have the Creator plan.

                      I’m guessing he had hundreds of readers daily on his blog. It sure sounded that way.

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  8. Fascinating! Thanks for the lesson, Port! Feeling like a bit of a noob, I actually never heard of Renard. What a legend : )

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    • Apparently Renard’s Trinidadian tentacles failed to reach your exquisite blog. His was not the greatest blog ever, but it was very consistent and widely-read (for WordPress). I always found his material interesting.

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