The Blogosphere Buzzes as Authorities Clamp Down on Information About Behl Case.

A bizarre and disturbing Internet phenomenon was revealed when anonymous posters began to leave sick and cruel comments on Taylor Behl's Livejournal, http://www.livejournal.com/users/tiabliaj. Eventually Behl's friends and family were made aware of this and the offensive comments were removed.

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In late 2005, a gag order was place on the investigation. Very few people with any knowledge about the investigation could talk to the press, and as a result, mainstream media coverage of Taylor Behl's disappearance and murder slowed to a trickle.

What, then, did the 'blogosphere,' the online universe of diarists, "citizen" journalists, gossips and pundits have to say?

One story that was untrue as it related to Taylor Behl's murder was posted online very early in the investigation, and as the gag order closed off official sources of information, this story gained legs, like any good Urban Legend.

A link and comment were posted on digg.com, a site that describes itself thusly:

"...A technology news website that combines social bookmarking, blogging, RSS, and non-hierarchical editorial control. With digg, users submit stories for review, but rather than allow an editor to decide which stories go on the homepage, the users do."

The post was titled, "Girl murdered by man she met on MySpace," and clicking the hyperlink in the title would take you to Taylor Behl's myspace.com profile.

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Steve Huff can be reached via his web site http://www.HuffCrimeBlog.com/.

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