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Violet Blue
Violet Blue
Violet Blue
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Violet Blue is an American journalist, author, editor, advisor, and educator.

Key Information

Blue wrote a weekly sex column for the San Francisco Chronicle until 2010.[3] In her podcast, Open Source Sex, she reads erotica and discusses topics such as fetishes and oral sex.[4]

Awards

[edit]
  • In January 2007, Forbes named her one of The Web Celeb 25.[5]
  • Blue was named "Best Sex Educator" in 2013 by the San Francisco Weekly.[6]

Name

[edit]

Violet Blue is the author's legal name. In an online article, she has stated:

My name really is Violet Blue. Despite any rubbish you’ve seen by my harassers and detractors, Violet Blue is the name on my passport, social security card, all my ID, and it is who I am.[7]

On August 19, 2011, Blue's Google+ account was suspended for failing to comply with the Google+ real name policy, but this decision was reversed three days later.[8]

Litigation

[edit]

In October 2007, Blue filed a lawsuit against adult actress Ada Mae Johnson, who had performed as "Violet Blue" since 2000, alleging that Johnson had adopted Blue's persona, and her recently trademarked (in 2007) name, "Violet Blue."[9] She said she had been using the name in writings since 1999.[9] The lawsuit alleged trademark violation and dilution, as well as unfair business practices. Pursuant to a preliminary injunction and court order granted in 2007[10] to cease using "names, trademarks and Internet domains confusingly similar to, or identical to, Plaintiff's trademark VIOLET BLUE," Johnson changed her stage name to Noname Jane. The lawsuit was settled in October 2008.[11]

In July 2008, Blue sought restraining orders against online critics David Burch (aka Ben Burch) and Nina Alter to prohibit them from e-mailing her, editing her Wikipedia page, or writing unkindly about her online. Both motions were dismissed but she is allowed to file again.[12]

Boing Boing deletions

[edit]

Around June 2008, Blue stated on her blog that the blog Boing Boing had removed all posts referring to her (estimated by a Los Angeles Times blogger[13] to number at least 70) from the site. A heated debate ensued after a brief statement on the Boing Boing site regarding this action stated: "Violet behaved in a way that made us reconsider whether we wanted to lend her any credibility or associate with her. It's our blog and so we made an editorial decision, like we do every single day".[14] Boing Boing editor Xeni Jardin said that she hoped she would not have to make the reasons public.[15]

vb.ly URL shortener

[edit]

In August 2009, Violet Blue and Ben Metcalfe launched a URL shortening service with the domain name vb.ly, which was described as "the Internet's first and only sex-positive URL shortener."[16] The site was hosted on the .ly top-level domain, and the main page showed Violet Blue holding a bottle of beer.[17] In October 2010, the site was shut down following a letter to Violet Blue from Libya Telecom & Technology, saying that the site was contrary to the principles of Sharia law and stating: "The issue of offensive imagery is quite subjective, as what I may deem as offensive you might not, but I think you'll agree that a picture of a scantily clad lady with some bottle in her hand isn't exactly what most would consider decent or family friendly at the least." Ben Metcalfe responded by stating, "We're very clear that the site did not have pornographic or adult content hosted on it; but even if it did, my bigger concern is that the domain registry is trying to regulate against the content of a website. A domain and a website are two extricably decoupled and separate entities."[18]

Selected works

[edit]

Authored

[edit]
  • A Fish Has No Word For Water: A Punk Homeless San Francisco Memoir, Digita Publications, 2023, ISBN 978-0-9862266-7-0
  • How to Be a Digital Revolutionary, Violet Blue (self-published), 2017, ISBN 978-1-52133-828-5
  • The Smart Girls Guide to Privacy, Digita Publications, 2014, ISBN 0-9799019-9-5
  • The Ultimate Guide to Cunnilingus: How to Go Down on a Woman and Give Her Exquisite Pleasure, 2nd Edition, Cleis Press, 2010, ISBN 1-57344-387-5
  • The Ultimate Guide to Fellatio: How to Go Down on a Man and Give Him Mind-Blowing Pleasure, 2nd Edition, Cleis Press, 2010, ISBN 1-57344-398-0
  • The Adventurous Couple's Guide to Strap-On Sex, Cleis Press, 2007, ISBN 1-57344-278-X
  • The Smart Girl's Guide to the G-Spot, Cleis Press, 2007, ISBN 1-57344-273-9
  • Fetish Sex: An Erotic Guide for Couples, Daedalus Publishing Company, 2006, ISBN 1-881943-23-2 - with Thomas Roche
  • The Adventurous Couple's Guide to Sex Toys, Cleis Press, 2006, ISBN 1-57344-254-2
  • The Smart Girl's Guide to Porn, Cleis Press, 2006, ISBN 1-57344-247-X (IPPY Bronze award winner for erotica[19])
  • The Ultimate Guide to Sexual Fantasy: How to Turn Your Fantasies into Reality, Cleis Press, 2004, ISBN 1-57344-190-2
  • The Ultimate Guide to Adult Videos: How to Watch Adult Videos and Make Your Sex Life Sizzle, Cleis Press, 2003, ISBN 1-57344-172-4
  • The Ultimate Guide to Cunnilingus: How to Go Down on a Woman and Give Her Exquisite Pleasure, Cleis Press, 2002 ISBN 1-57344-144-9
  • The Ultimate Guide to Fellatio: How to Go Down on a Man and Give Him Mind-Blowing Pleasure, Cleis Press, 2002, ISBN 1-57344-151-1

Edited

[edit]

Digital releases

[edit]
  • Sweet Heat (erotica), Digita Publications, 2008 (audiobook), ISBN 978-0-9799019-6-6
  • Erotic Role Play: A Guide For Couples, Digita Publications, 2007 (audiobook, ebook), ISBN 978-0-9799019-5-9
  • How To Kiss, Digita Publications, 2007 (audiobook, ebook, and Amazon Kindle versions), ISBN 978-0-9799019-2-8
  • The Modern Safer Sex Guide, Digita Publications, 2007 (ebook and Amazon Kindle versions), ISBN 978-0-9799019-4-2
  • Creatures of the Night (erotica), Digita Publications, 2007 (audiobook and ebook and Amazon Kindle versions), ISBN 978-0-9799019-3-5
  • Pleasure Zone Basics, Digita Publications, 2007 (audiobook), ISBN 978-0-9799019-1-1

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Violet Blue

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Violet Blue is an American investigative , , and podcaster specializing in cybersecurity, , , human sexuality, and technology. She has contributed to outlets including , , , and WIRED, covering topics such as hacking, , and sex tech intersections. Blue is a six-time winner of the Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY) for her works on privacy and sexuality, including the 2023 gold medal for A Fish Has No Word For Water, a memoir on homelessness in San Francisco, which also became a finalist for the National Indie Book Awards. Her bibliography encompasses practical guides like The Smart Girl's Guide to Privacy and sex education titles such as The Ultimate Guide to Cunnilingus and Ultimate Guide to Fellatio, emphasizing evidence-based advice on erotic techniques and digital security. In 2007, she pursued legal action against a porn actress using the identical stage name, highlighting early career challenges in establishing her professional identity amid the adult industry. Blue's reporting extends to Covid-19 impacts on privacy and human rights, underscoring her focus on at-risk populations and empirical analysis of technological vulnerabilities.

Personal Background

Pseudonym and Identity

Violet Blue adopted the name "" as her professional moniker for writing on intimate and potentially stigmatized subjects, including sexuality, relationships, and later . By 2007, she had established recognition under this name as a sex columnist and blogger, prompting her to legally change her name to it and register it as a in early 2008 to secure her brand amid emerging conflicts. This formal adoption addressed a direct when a actress adopted the identical , resulting in a federal lawsuit filed by Blue in and settled out of court in October 2008, after which reverted to a prior alias. Details of Blue's name or identity prior to this legal change remain undisclosed in , reflecting a deliberate separation of personal and professional spheres to mitigate risks associated with controversial reporting—a practice that parallels her subsequent emphasis on safeguarding individual data against exposure. Unsubstantiated online speculations regarding her background, such as , lack corroboration from verifiable sources and appear rooted in misinterpretations of privacy-related articles she has authored.

Early Influences and Education

Violet Blue was raised by a single mother who held an engineering degree from Stanford University and worked in Silicon Valley, exposing her to technology and innovation from an early age, though the mother's later struggle with drug addiction disrupted family stability. This environment fostered an early familiarity with tech culture, which Blue later integrated into her writing on sexuality and digital topics, without reliance on formal academic credentials in journalism or related fields. No records indicate higher education for Blue herself, suggesting her skills were largely self-developed through practical immersion in San Francisco's alternative media and subcultures during the late 1990s. Her entry into writing began in 1998 when she joined , a pioneering San Francisco-based sex-positive retailer and educator, as a senior copywriter, a role that honed her ability to address subjects empirically and accessibly. In 1999, Blue founded the company's , an early digital platform blending sexuality education with emerging tools, reflecting the Bay Area's intersection of tech innovation and progressive sexual attitudes. This pre-professional phase, rooted in the local sex-positive scene's emphasis on , health, and destigmatization, shaped her focus on underexplored intersections of personal experience and technology, predating mainstream recognition.

Journalism and Writing Career

Sex and Relationships Column

Violet Blue launched her weekly column "Open Source Sex" in the San Francisco Chronicle on September 21, 2006, focusing on topics including sex technology, relationship advice, and cultural aspects of sexuality. The column appeared every Thursday, addressing issues such as online sexual expression, , and practical guidance on intimate practices, often emphasizing empirical approaches to sexual health and consent dynamics grounded in individual agency rather than institutional mandates. It continued until 2010, marking a sustained effort to integrate frank discussions of sexuality into mainstream . Central themes included advocacy for sex-positive education, exploration of BDSM practices, and analysis of digital influences on sexual behavior, with Blue drawing on interviews and personal insights to promote destigmatization through accessible, non-sensationalized prose. For instance, columns covered cybersex dynamics in monogamous relationships and the literacy of online erotic content, aiming to equip readers with tools for informed decision-making amid evolving technologies. This approach reportedly engaged a monthly readership exceeding 4 million, contributing to broader cultural shifts by normalizing conversations on fringe sexual interests in a major metropolitan newspaper. However, quantifiable data on direct behavioral impacts, such as changes in reader attitudes or practices, remains anecdotal, with no large-scale empirical studies cited in contemporary reviews. The column received praise for bridging niche topics to general audiences, yet drew criticisms for allegedly overemphasizing unconventional practices like at the expense of mainstream relational stability, potentially skewing toward niche subcultures over evidence-based relational outcomes. Detractors, including voices from the adult industry, accused Blue of selective fact presentation in her progressive-leaning narratives on and identity, arguing it aligned with unverified cultural trends rather than rigorous of sexual harms or benefits. These disputes often spilled into online feuds, as seen in legal entanglements with critics over column-related commentary, highlighting tensions between her destigmatization goals and perceptions of ideological bias in . Despite such pushback, the column's run underscored a pivotal mainstreaming of , predating broader tech integrations in her later work.

Shift to Technology and Cybersecurity Reporting

In the early 2010s, Violet Blue pivoted her journalistic focus from sex and relationships to technology and cybersecurity, securing bylines at outlets including ZDNet's Zero Day section and WIRED, where she covered hacking, cybercrime, and digital privacy. This evolution reflected broader market dynamics, as the proliferation of smartphones, cloud services, and online platforms amplified vulnerabilities, driving demand for specialized reporting on emerging threats. Her contributions included analyses of legislative efforts like CISPA in 2012, highlighting risks to civil liberties amid cybersecurity pushes. Blue's investigative work exposed specific systemic flaws, such as Google Plus's configurations in 2014, which inadvertently revealed users' identities to unintended audiences, underscoring failures in platform and handling. She also examined aviation cybersecurity, detailing historical research into system vulnerabilities in a 2015 piece that contextualized public demonstrations against industry complacency. These reports dissected technical mechanisms—from leaks to protocol weaknesses—offering readers foundational explanations of how exploits propagate, grounded in verifiable incident rather than speculation. This phase of her career produced practical-oriented content that elevated public discourse on personal defenses, aligning with a decade-long surge in breaches; for instance, reported incidents escalated dramatically, with attacks alone rising over 150% year-over-year by the late . Blue's emphasis on corporate , particularly in lapses, drew attention to empirically documented patterns, such as repeated platform errors enabling mass exposures, though her focus on tech giants' overreach sometimes prioritized user-end impacts over state-sponsored vectors. Her track record, including award-winning investigations, demonstrated prescience, as many highlighted risks materialized in subsequent high-profile incidents.

Covid-19 and Public Health Focus

In early 2020, Violet Blue pivoted her toward , launching the "" newsletter that provided weekly curated roundups of emerging research, news, and data on the virus, , and mitigation strategies. By October 2025, she had published over 300 consecutive weekly updates, maintaining a consistent schedule to aggregate empirical findings on transmission risks, variant evolution, and chronic health impacts. This effort emphasized data-driven , drawing from peer-reviewed studies and datasets to inform individual and community-level precautions beyond initial phases. Blue's Covid-focused work integrated her prior expertise in and cybersecurity, highlighting vulnerabilities in tracking systems, such as contact-tracing apps and vaccine passport implementations that risked overreach. She compiled evidence on persistent and the limitations of ventilation standards in public spaces, advocating for layered protections like masking and air filtration based on dynamics and modeling. In 2024, she published The Covid Safety Handbook: Staying Safe In An Unsafe World, a 226-page guide offering evidence-based protocols for risk reduction, including boundary-setting in social interactions and safer travel practices amid ongoing circulation. An excerpt titled "" detailed community-level strategies for mutual support in enforcing safety measures, underscoring causal links between repeated exposures and cumulative organ damage observed in longitudinal studies. Blue contributed to public discourse on through interviews and podcast appearances, such as a January 2025 episode of Still Here by The Sick Times, where she discussed persistence of symptoms like fatigue and in up to 10-30% of cases per meta-analyses of infected populations. Her aggregation efforts highlighted underreported empirical data on reinfection risks and policy shortcomings, such as delayed recognition of airborne spread, which epidemiological reviews trace to early overreliance on droplet models. This aligns with causal evidence from wastewater surveillance showing sustained viral loads into 2025, contradicting narratives of negligible community threat. Her emphasis on enduring hazards, including post-vaccination transmission and chronic effects, reflects debates where precautionary stances are weighed against data indicating reduced severe outcomes—hospitalization rates dropped over 90% from peak levels by 2023 due to immunity layers—but persistent endothelial and neurological sequelae in millions underscore unresolved causal pathways from unchecked spread. Critics in broader commentary argue such focus may amplify low-probability events for the vaccinated majority, yet Blue's sourcing prioritizes raw incidence metrics over modeled projections, revealing gaps in official risk communication tied to institutional incentives for normalcy.

Published Works

Books on Sexuality and Relationships

Violet Blue's early publications on sexuality emphasized practical techniques, consent, and exploration within relationships, often drawing from her experience as a sex educator at . Her book The Ultimate Guide to Cunnilingus: How to Go Down on a Woman and Give Her Exquisite (Cleis Press, 2002, revised 2010) offers step-by-step instructions for on women, focusing on , communication, and variation to enhance mutual satisfaction. Similarly, Ultimate Guide to : How to Go Down on a Man and Give Him Mind-Blowing (Cleis Press, 2002, revised 2010) provides analogous guidance for on men, stressing technique, psychological aspects, and safety. These guides aimed to demystify sexual acts through explicit, non-judgmental advice, positioning them as tools for improving intimacy in heterosexual relationships. In The Smart Girl's Guide to Porn (Cleis Press, 2006), Blue addresses women's engagement with , covering selection, ethical production, and integration into personal sexuality, with intersections of such as online viewing safety. An excerpt from the book appeared on The website, highlighting its appeal for mainstream audiences seeking informed perspectives on adult content. The work underscores practical risks like privacy in digital consumption, contributing to early discussions on safe online sexual exploration. Blue also edited anthologies such as Best Women's Erotica 2006 (Cleis Press), which won the Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY) in the Erotica category for its curated short stories emphasizing female desire and narrative diversity. These books received praise for their educational value in promoting sex-positive attitudes and technique-focused , filling gaps in accessible, non-prescriptive resources amid rising in sexual literacy during the . However, cultural critics have contended that such guides, by normalizing and explicit practices, may inadvertently erode traditional relational norms, with empirical studies linking frequent porn use to reduced relationship satisfaction and commitment in longitudinal surveys of couples. Blue's emphasis on individual agency over societal consequences reflects a broader sex-positive framework, which some analyses argue overlooks causal evidence from family structure research showing correlations between permissive sexual media and delayed or higher rates. Her works played a role in popularizing online sex safety awareness, predating widespread campaigns by providing user-centric tips on avoiding exploitation in adult content spaces. Overall, while IPPY recognitions affirm their literary and instructional merit—Blue securing multiple awards across her oeuvre—these titles sparked debate on whether their candid approach educates or accelerates cultural shifts toward commodified intimacy.

Books on Privacy, Security, and Technology

Violet Blue's "The Smart Girl's Guide to Privacy: Practical Tips for Staying Safe Online," published in 2015 by No Starch Press, provides step-by-step instructions for addressing digital threats, including securing social media accounts, employing two-factor authentication, and minimizing data exposure to advertising networks operated by companies like Google and Facebook. The book details mechanisms of online tracking, such as cookies and geolocation data, with examples of how lax settings have enabled stalking or identity compromise in documented incidents involving overshared personal information. Drawing from Blue's reporting on cybersecurity breaches, the guide advocates evaluating threats through personal —identifying vulnerabilities like weak passwords or app permissions that facilitate unauthorized access—rather than generic solutions. It critiques platform defaults that prioritize over user control, citing empirical evidence from audits and enforcement actions against non-compliant services as of 2015. Readers are instructed on tools including VPNs and secure browsers to counter , grounded in causal links between unmitigated exposures and real harms like doxxing. The publication has been credited with democratizing , influencing non-technical users to adopt verifiable practices such as regular account audits and avoidance of unnecessary , as noted in analyses recommending it for baseline . However, its emphasis on maximal precautions has drawn for potentially undervaluing trade-offs, where absolute measures can hinder functionality without proportional reduction in low- scenarios. Blue's approach prioritizes empirical over institutional assurances from tech firms, reflecting toward self-reported compliance in handling. In December 2024, Violet Blue released The Covid Safety Handbook: Staying Safe In An Unsafe World, a 226-page guide asserting the ongoing nature of the and advocating practical mitigation strategies. The book draws on aggregated research to address risk assessment, including setting personal prevention boundaries, managing in interpersonal relationships, enhancing safety for travel and gatherings, and debunking conspiracy narratives. Funded through a campaign launched in early 2025, it promotes community-based approaches like care circles for sustained prevention, emphasizing empirical adjustments to evolving viral threats such as variants. Complementing the handbook, Blue maintains weekly Pandemic Roundup newsletters via her subscription platform, initiated around November 2022 and continuing into 2025. These curated compilations aggregate peer-reviewed studies, data, and emerging reports on variants, prevalence, and transmission dynamics, aiming to provide accessible updates for individual and collective risk management. Her model supports awareness through paid access, enabling detailed sourcing from outlets like academic journals and health agencies, while fostering discussions on causal factors in infection outcomes. Blue's publications prioritize precautionary measures, such as consistent masking and ventilation, rooted in data highlighting persistent risks affecting up to 16% of reinfected children in some studies. However, this stance aligns with debates over extended caution, as U.S. transmission and hospitalizations declined markedly in late 2024 and into 2025, with infections falling off the top 10 causes of death amid hybrid immunity from vaccines and prior exposures. Critics of similar advocacy, though not directly targeting Blue, contend that overemphasis on indefinite precautions may overlook empirical shifts toward endemic patterns, with test positivity dropping to 7.8% nationally by September 2025. Her work thus contributes verifiable tools for high-risk groups but reflects a precautionary lens amid contested interpretations of declining overall burden.

Tech Ventures and Projects

vb.ly URL Shortener

vb.ly was launched on August 19, 2009, by technology journalist Violet Blue in collaboration with developer Ben Metcalfe, positioning itself as the internet's first sex-positive service. Unlike mainstream shorteners such as bit.ly, which prohibited links to adult content in their , vb.ly explicitly permitted users to shorten and share pointing to sexually explicit material without , aiming to serve a niche underserved by competitors during the early surge in URL shortener popularity driven by platforms like . The service operated under the .ly , a Libyan repurposed for its phonetic appeal in English (e.g., "vbly" evoking "virile" or brevity), but this choice later exposed it to geopolitical risks inherent in country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs). Functionally, vb.ly provided standard shortening capabilities—converting long URLs into compact vb.ly/vb.ly-style links—while emphasizing user freedom over , which Blue promoted in her as a counter to perceived prudishness in tech tools. It integrated with Blue's reporting workflow, where she encouraged its use for disseminating related to sexuality, , and tech topics, though no public metrics on click-through rates or total short links generated were released, limiting empirical assessment of its scale. In the broader context of the trend peaking around 2009–2010, vb.ly represented a specialized variant amid dominant players like bit.ly, which by then handled millions of daily redirects and offered analytics features vb.ly lacked, contributing to its marginal adoption. The service's niche focus on uncensored links aligned with causal drivers of shortener proliferation, such as character limits on sites, but its explicit permissiveness deterred mainstream integration, as evidenced by bit.ly's avoidance of similar content to maintain broad appeal and advertiser trust. vb.ly faced significant technical and operational limitations, including the absence of advanced features like custom aliases, real-time analytics, or integrations that bolstered competitors' stickiness, potentially hindering user retention in a market where bit.ly processed over 1.3 billion shortenings per month by mid-2010. Its low adoption is inferable from sparse mentions in tech discourse and lack of sustained growth data, overshadowed by established services that prioritized over content permissiveness. The project's abrupt termination on , 2010, when Libyan domain registry NIC.ly seized the vb.ly domain for violating national laws—classifying shortened links as prohibited pornographic material—underscored a critical failure tied to ccTLD vulnerabilities. This event, occurring amid Libya's political instability under Gaddafi, highlighted causal risks of hosting services on foreign registries without content-aligned legal safeguards, prompting to later advise caution with .ly domains and influencing industry discussions on domain sovereignty, though bit.ly persisted by enforcing stricter content policies. The shutdown served as a lesson in the perils of niche without diversified , as vb.ly's brief 14-month lifespan yielded no viable migration or revival, contrasting with resilient alternatives that adapted to regulatory pressures.

Other Digital Initiatives

Violet Blue operates Threat Model, a Patreon-based subscription service providing curated weekly newsletters on cybersecurity, digital privacy (Tuesdays at 8 AM PT), and / developments (Fridays at 8 AM PT). This initiative supports independent journalism by enabling direct patron funding, circumventing reliance on institutional media prone to editorial biases, with over 300 COVID/ updates delivered by October 2025. The model emphasizes evidence-driven curation, drawing from primary data sources to inform subscribers on practical threats and mitigations. Complementing this, Blue utilizes for unfiltered audience engagement, posting on , , and to build a around verifiable insights rather than algorithmic amplification. These platforms have facilitated sustained output amid shifts in digital economies, allowing circumvention of platform dependencies while risking insular subscriber dynamics if not balanced with external verification. In podcasting, Blue has appeared in targeted 2025 discussions, including a January 10 interview on The Sick Times' Still Here series addressing strategies from her COVID Safety Handbook. Such engagements extend her digital reach, prioritizing empirical public health data over narrative-driven discourse, though they remain secondary to her newsletter-driven model.

Controversies and Disputes

Boing Boing Archive Deletions

In June 2008, Violet Blue discovered that , a prominent and , had removed dozens of archived posts referencing her work, including positive reviews of her books on sexuality and technology dating back several years. The deletions, estimated at over 30 entries, were performed without public announcement or explanation, prompting Blue to highlight the issue on her own blog and sparking widespread online discussion. Xeni Jardin, a co-editor of , later confirmed she had initiated the removals approximately a year earlier, citing personal reasons tied to a prior dispute with Blue. In a July 1, 2008, statement on the site, editors explained that Blue's conduct—described as actions that eroded their willingness to associate with or endorse her—led to the decision under their internal editorial policy, framing it as a private blog's prerogative rather than an act of . They emphasized that the posts were not preserved as immutable but as editable content owned by the site, akin to routine housekeeping of outdated or regrettable . A follow-up post on July 18, 2008, outlined "," acknowledging the need for greater transparency in future edits while defending the action as consistent with their autonomy. Blue responded by expressing bafflement over the unannounced scrubbing, noting she had no prior knowledge of the deletions and viewing them as an erasure of historical context that benefited her professionally. The incident fueled debates on the ethics of retroactive blog editing, with critics arguing it compromised archival integrity and free speech principles by altering without disclosure, potentially misleading readers about past endorsements. Proponents of Boing Boing's stance countered that blogs are not neutral archives but subjective platforms where editors retain full control, distinguishing the act from by governments or mandated erasures. Empirical indicators of backlash included sharp declines in 's traffic—reportedly down 20-30% in the immediate aftermath—and reader comments decrying the opacity as a of the site's for digital permanence and anti-censorship values. Over time, the controversy eroded some trust in collaborative blogs' reliability as historical sources, prompting broader reflections on whether editorial discretion should yield to expectations of immutability in online publishing. maintained that the deletions reflected a targeted disassociation rather than systemic revisionism, though the lack of initial transparency amplified perceptions of inconsistency. In October 2007, Violet Blue filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against adult film actress Ada Mae Johnson, who had used the stage name "Violet Blue" since 2000, alleging trademark infringement, dilution, false designation of origin, violation of the right of publicity under California law, and unfair competition. Blue, who had adopted the name as her professional pseudonym starting in 1999 and registered it as a trademark in early 2008, claimed Johnson's use confused consumers and diluted her brand in sexuality writing and media. The court granted Blue's motion for a preliminary , ruling that she held a valid, protectable likely to cause consumer confusion, though it rejected her dilution claim on grounds that the mark was not sufficiently famous prior to Johnson's usage. The case settled in October 2008, with Johnson agreeing to cease using "Violet Blue" or similar names and adopting "Noname Jane" as her , allowing Blue to maintain exclusive use without further of . In July 2008, amid online disputes including the Boing Boing archive deletions, Blue sought a temporary in Superior Court against critics David Burch (also known as Ben Burch) and Nina Alter, accusing them of through negative comments on forums like , unauthorized Wikipedia edits revealing her legal name, and a threatening from Burch promising a sustained campaign against her. Burch defended his actions as protected speech under the First Amendment, denying any threats of physical harm. The court denied the restraining order, finding insufficient evidence of imminent harm or harassment warranting restriction. No further major litigated challenges involving Blue's professional work have been publicly documented in court records, though the trademark suit underscored tensions over in overlapping media spheres, while the failed highlighted limits on judicial intervention in online criticism.

Exposures of Media and Tech Practices

Violet Blue has conducted highlighting violations and inadequate safeguards by major companies, focusing on how platform designs and policies expose users to unintended revelations of personal information. Her reporting often draws on user complaints, technical analyses, and real-world incidents to demonstrate systemic failures in data handling and identity management. In a , 2014, article, Blue exposed flaws in 's and Hangouts integrations that outed users by overriding preferred names with legal or birth names. Specific cases included a transgender woman's old male name appearing in Hangouts after an update in 2013, which attributed to user error despite integration automatically pulling data from Google accounts; similar issues affected profiles post- launch in 2011 and forum reports from users like Zoe and Nora in January 2014. These practices ignored user and contributed to severe consequences, such as heightened risk for affected individuals, exemplified by the January 2014 suicide of Dr. Essay Anne Vanderbilt following an outing linked to identity verification demands. Blue criticized 's prioritization of data consolidation over user safety, noting a pattern of dismissing complaints without addressing underlying technical overwrites. Blue further revealed shortcomings in content moderation through a January 19, 2018, article critiquing Facebook's response to proliferation. She detailed how algorithm tweaks prioritizing friends' posts over professional news sources amplified , such as InfoWars' Tide Pods hoax, while the "disputed" flagging system—introduced in and abandoned by December 2017—relied on slow user reports and fact-checker reviews without reducing viral spread due to opaque processes and lack of shared internal data. Blue attributed ineffectiveness to executive denial of the issue's scale, including Mark Zuckerberg's post- election claim that 99 percent of content was authentic, and a focus on user engagement over curbing , which enabled unchecked Russian ad campaigns admitted in September 2017 and highlighted computational risks by researchers in July 2017. These exposures underscored how platform incentives favored sensationalism, indirectly enabling . Her 2015 book The Smart Girl's Guide to Privacy systematically uncovers targeted surveillance practices against women by tech firms, using case studies to illustrate how seemingly innocuous data like phone numbers enables doxxing and stalking via cross-platform tracking and weak default settings. Blue's broader cybersecurity columns, including those on and , have investigated vulnerabilities, such as the "smart-thing apocalypse" risks from insecure devices in 2015, and hiring crises exacerbating exposure to threats post-Snowden revelations in 2014. More recently, in a , 2025, WIRED article, she advised on evading U.S.-based services amid concerns over Big Tech's potential alignment with government oversight, citing historical privacy erosions as evidence of recurring causal risks in centralized data ecosystems.

Awards and Recognition

Independent Publisher Book Awards

Violet Blue has received six Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPYs), recognizing excellence in independent across categories such as and . The IPPY program, administered annually since 1996 by Jenkins Group, evaluates entries based on criteria including content quality, editorial execution, design, production values, and market appeal, with over 4,500 books honored to date from thousands of submissions judged by librarians, booksellers, and experts. These awards highlight the competitive rigor of independent titles, where winners emerge from diverse entrants often lacking mainstream distribution advantages, though critics note potential subjectivity in category judging amid varying entry volumes. Her IPPY successes span edited erotica anthologies and later , reflecting consistent recognition for curated content that prioritizes depth and thematic coherence over sensationalism. In 2006, Best Women's Erotica, edited by Blue and published by Cleis Press, won in the category, commended for its selection of stories emphasizing female perspectives and psychological nuance. The following year, 2007, saw Best Women's Erotica 07, also edited by Blue for Cleis Press, secure gold in , underscoring her editorial skill in assembling works grounded in authentic experiential accounts rather than formulaic tropes. Additional wins include recognition in 2010 for Sweet Love: Erotic Fantasies for Couples in the erotica category, further evidencing her influence in guiding independent erotica toward structured, reader-focused explorations of intimacy. Blue's most recent IPPY, a 2023 gold medal for A Fish Has No Word For Water: A Punk Homeless San Francisco Memoir (Digita Publications), affirms her pivot to investigative nonfiction, where the work's empirical detailing of urban survival challenges—drawn from firsthand observation and data on homelessness—earned praise for causal analysis of systemic failures in housing and policy. These awards collectively validate Blue's output in privacy and sexuality topics through independent lenses, prioritizing verifiable insights over narrative conformity in a field prone to ideological skews from larger publishers.

Other Honors and Contributions

Blue has served as an advisor to Without My Consent, a dedicated to combating online through legal and educational resources. She is also a member of the Internet Press Guild, a professional association for technology journalists. In recognition of her online influence, listed Blue among its Web Celeb 25 in January 2007, highlighting her as a prominent sex educator and author with significant digital reach. She has been profiled as one of WIRED's Faces of Innovation for her contributions to technology commentary. Blue's educational efforts on have extended beyond writing, including donations of over 200,000 copies of her privacy guide to to support global . Her San Francisco Chronicle column on open-source topics reached an estimated 4 million readers monthly, amplifying public awareness of cybersecurity and protection.

References

  1. https://www.zdnet.com/meet-the-team/violet-blue/
  2. https://www.wired.com/author/violet-blue/
  3. https://www.audible.com/author/Violet-Blue/B001JRZ0EY
  4. https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/50868.Violet_Blue
  5. https://www.wired.com/2007/10/sex-journo-viol/
  6. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3905974/bio/
  7. https://violetblue.tumblr.com/about-violet-blue
  8. https://randazza.wordpress.com/2009/02/03/violet-blue-no-names-jane/
  9. https://freshfiction.com/author.php?id=7101
  10. https://laughingsquid.com/violet-blue-the-new-sex-columnist-for-the-sf-chronicle/
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  14. https://avn.com/news/video/editorial-self-righteous-sex-positive-violet-blue-can-t-get-her-facts-straight-101637
  15. https://www.sfweekly.com/archives/sex-columnist-violet-blue-tries-to-restrain-online-foes/article_6dab6984-fa8a-5f08-a8af-72f63ee543d2.html
  16. https://www.varonis.com/blog/data-breach-statistics
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  20. https://nordlayer.com/blog/evolution-of-cyber-threats-over-10-years/
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  27. https://www.patreon.com/posts/covid-...
  28. https://x.com/violetblue
  29. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/455558.The_Smart_Girl_s_Guide_to_Porn
  30. https://independentpublisher.com/article.php?page=946
  31. https://www.goodvibes.com/content/c/Oprah-Women-Watch-Porn-PR
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  40. https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Covid_Safety_Handbook.html?id=C7kH0QEACAAJ
  41. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-covid-safety-handbook-violet-blue/1146567364
  42. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/violetblue/the-covid-sanity-handbook
  43. https://www.patreon.com/posts/pandemic-roundup-74163536
  44. https://www.patreon.com/posts/pandemic-roundup-119618779
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  47. https://mastodon.social/%40violetblue/110392313971700370
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  60. https://www.tumblr.com/violetblue
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