Call him Ishmael. Or Ish, for short.

After all, everybody does — that is, unless they know his real identity.

Ishmael Melville is the name for the anonymous blogger of Kodiak Konfidential, the leading blog in Kodiak and one of the more prominent blogs in Alaska.

A blog — a contraction of the words Web and log — is the modern-day online equivalent of a diary. Today, blog entries are written with keyboard strokes for a digital age on Web pages instead of paper ones. Readers mouse-click through blog archives instead of leafing through paper diary logs. Blog writers leave the pens and pencils of yesteryear tucked away for other pursuits.

But the biggest difference today is in the numbers: Most diaries are stowed under the bed for few to see; blogs are on the Internet for potential world audience perusal.

Collectively, blogs are known as the blogosphere, and even little Kodiak has one.

Many blogs of Kodiak residents are personal in nature: what the author did that day or photos of a family growing up together. Easily posting photos and linking to other blogs, thus creating a kind of online community, is an attractive and addictive feature of the modern blog.

But many blogs like Kodiak Konfidential dig deeper beyond what the writer had for breakfast that day or the latest (and cutest) baby photo. They can specialize in informing readers on specific issues, break news while acting as citizen watchdogs on media outlets and government, express opinions and, most saliently of all, rant and rave to the online world in a sometimes contentious use of the First Amendment.

Kodiak’s blog king

While not all of Kodiak’s prominent bloggers agree politically, they all seem to agree that Ishmael is Kodiak’s blogger king.

Ishmael’s Kodiak Konfidential — often abbreviated as The KoKon to readers — was one of Kodiak’s first blogs to gain wide readership locally and statewide. Several Kodiak bloggers consider it “home base” of blogosphere Kodiak and the reason why they started their own blogs.

The KoKon’s banner reads “News Opinion Wild Speculation: Where an Alaskan curmudgeon turns his jaundiced eye to life, politics and society in Kodiak and around the state.” In the author description, Ishmael calls himself “a cranky dude trying to find the humor in a bad situation.”

For Ishmael, starting The KoKon back in September 2006 around when Gov. Sarah Palin first ran for governor was a way “to be political and funny and have a chance to say something, which I couldn’t do in my regular job.”

But initially coming up with his blog’s name was rather serendipitous.

“I had discovered blogs, but I had never read them,” Ishmael said. “I actually didn’t have very much of an opinion about the things. And then, all of a sudden, Kodiak Konfidential popped in my head. And then I said, ‘Oh, now I have to do a blog. I’ve thought of a good name.’”

And the obvious nod to Herman Melville’s Ishmael in “Moby-Dick”? It was the novel’s famous first line, “Call me Ishmael,” that popped in his head when thinking of his blogger identity.

“It was (also) kind of a seafaring sort of a deal. Kodiak’s a seafaring place. It was just another one of those things that popped into my head and I decided to go with it on the spot.”

Ishmael said today The KoKon receives a wide average of 400 to 1,000 hits a day, sometimes significantly more when he mentions Palin. The KoKon’s Web traffic peaked in the months after Republican Sen. John McCain announced Palin as his vice presidential running mate. The world’s eyes and media turned to the then-relatively unknown Alaska politician — and consequently to Kodiak Konfidential due to one of the site’s artificially created images being listed first on a Palin search through Google Images.

“It was a Photoshop of her on the cover of Vogue, which I did over a year ago,” Ishmael said. “It’s not a really good Photoshop. I just sort of slapped it together because she was about to be in Vogue magazine. But when the entire nation and the world heard her name, they Googled her and they clicked on Google Images. And the first day, Aug. 30th, when she was announced, I got 60,000 hits. That month, I got 1.5 million hits in September and about a million in October.”

Later in the election, some Italian newspapers even republished The KoKon’s fake Palin Vogue picture on their front pages. The KoKon also wasmentioned in a Sept. 2008 Anchorage Daily News article story on Alaskan blogs.

Ishmael is a frequent blog poster and usually posts every day.

“It’s fun. What else is there to do in town? There’s only so much time you can spend at the bars or at work. I’m not much of a hiker or kayaker, so it’s my hobby.”

Other Kodiak blogosphere notables

In the upper-right corner of Flats Rat Rants, an anonymous blog electronically penned by a man who goes by the name Kodiakgriff, there is a black-and-white, hand-drawn picture of a distressed man. His right hand holds his head as it leans down. His eyes are closed. He looks nearly on the verge of tears.

“It’s an artist rendition of despair or sorrow,” said Kodiakgriff, who calls himself a “simple working man” on his blog author profile. “I used to have an angry face, but then I realized that I’m not really angry. I’m just kind of watching the world go by.”

Flats Rat Rants is described on its header as full of “rambling, rants & sharing my opinions. Passing on the double yellow of the information superhighway.” But, like most blogs, it receives significantly fewer hits than The KoKon — about 40 to 50 on days where he posts a new entry, said Kodiakgriff, and fewer than that on normal days. He said his blog is “cresting 5,000” total hits, but he’s never wanted it to be a big thing.

“My joke is if I hit 5,000, extrapolate that backwards, take the number of times I’ve checked how many times I have hits, I’ve probably got about three readers. And I’m OK with that.”

The blog’s overarching theme? Asking “hard questions,” expecting “real answers” and going beyond what Kodiakgriff said are the three main topics of most political blogs: “Palin persecution, Obama adulation or Bush bashing.”

Kodiakgriff added that he wants his blog entries “to kick the collective conscience and look at the big picture.”

“I want to try to get the community to do things instead of sitting around. I think we’ve got a national tendency to sit around and tell everybody what’s wrong. But I’m a firm believer that if you don’t have a solution, you’re part of the problem.”

City Councilman Terry Haines’ blog, titled The Rogue Wave, often focuses on fisheries-related topics given their prominence in Kodiak’s fisheries-driven economy. Unlike blog entries than can resemble written rants or stream-of-consciousness narrative flow, Haines said he broods over his entries and keeps them formal.

“To me it’s almost like printing your own little pamphlet and putting it out on the street corner,” he said.

Haines doesn’t know how much Web traffic he receives, but said more Kodiakans should join the online blogging club.

“A blog is like a harmonica; everyone should have one … I enjoy (blogging). It’s an all-new kind of a concept, sort of a weird combination of journalism. Some blogs help you learn things you wouldn’t learn any other way.”

Nick Sandin, a host on KMXT public radio’s “Jock of the Rock” show, also maintains a blog that he keeps private. Only approved readers can access it. Like other bloggers, he got the idea to have his own after reading The KoKon and after he stopped publishing his columns in the Kodiak Daily Mirror.

“I consider myself a disciple of ‘St. Ishmael,’” Sandin said. “I read him for about six months or more, and then I realized I could bring my column back. I won’t have an editor, so I can say anything I want now. It really is the true First Amendment freedom of speech deal out there.”

Sandin’s blog, called Sandinyerface, began in August 2007 and is mostly personal, with topics like the Seattle Seahawks football team, his own responses to already-published Daily Mirror letters to the editor, movie reviews at films playing at The Orpheum Theatre, hacks on celebrities and his travel diaries. He said his goal is mostly to be entertaining.

“My goal is to entertain myself. And if anyone thinks it’s funny, well, then, so be it.”

Kodiak born and raised, Sandin said his knowledge of Kodiak’s past gives him added perspective on local issues and his willingness to speak out about what others are thinking (but not saying) has also been a bonus for him — sometimes.

“What people have liked about in things I’ve written is that I’m willing to voice what a lot of people are thinking but are afraid to say,” he said, “but sometimes that can backfire on me.”

Sandin said being angry about something has fueled his blog-writing in the past, but it’s a trend that’s diminished for him lately.

“What’s hurt my blog is maturing and accepting the world the way it is. I’m not as pissed off as I used to be, so I haven’t been contributing to it as much.”

His favorite post so far?

“My evaluation of local urinals at various establishments in Kodiak.”

Delectable, controversial comments

For many readers, the most beloved feature of the modern blog is the ability to post follow-up comments on entries. Readers see this ability to talk back as part of the First Amendment freedom of speech. It’s a way to connect and be a part of the conversation outside of mainstream media source’s editorial controls.

Most Kodiak bloggers maintain some form of comment moderation, choosing which ones to allow or delete. This practice, however, is loose, as most comments get posted, even if they disagree with the writer’s entry.

Ishmael said out of the roughly 10,000 comments on The KoKon, he’s only rejected about five – three were language-related; the other two identified him. To comment on his site, some form of online ID is required, such as a Google e-mail account.

Sandin’s blog, however, initially had a commenting feature, but he eventually took it off.

“The comments are a big draw to people, I think, with any blog. People like to participate … (But comments) can be ruthless. They’re far worse than anything I can write.”

He said some were personal attacks to him online.

“I said to myself, ‘I don’t need this.’ This is supposed to be an enjoyable hobby, not World War III on a Web site.”

Kodiakgriff said he maintains a loosely controlled commenting section for Flat Rat Rants, viewing the commenting function as something very populist and democratic.

“We should drive the economy, we should drive government, we should drive the media. We should be driving things, not the other way around.”

He also said he allows people’s words to speak loudly for themselves.

“If you’re dumb enough to write or speak in a way that proves how dumb you are, you get what you deserve. That’s kind of how I look at it … if your sentences begin with cuss words and end with typos, obviously you shouldn’t have sat down at the keyboard.”

The blogging experience

Ishmael said even though his identity is somewhat of an open secret, “The speculation is great. I’ve probably named half the town when people ask, ‘Are you Ishmael?’ … (But) there are still people who have no clue and I’m sure there’s an even larger portion of society who doesn’t care or has never even heard of it.”

He said he doesn’t feel anonymous anymore, especially when one particular Kodiak notable talks to him about his site.

“When the mayor comes up to you and says, ‘Oh, I liked your blog entry the other day,’ you know you’ve been outed. When Carolyn Floyd comments on your blog, you know it’s not really a secret anymore.”

Even though The KoKon is widely read in Kodiak and Alaska, Ishmael said he doesn’t maintain it to be an opinion-making leader.

“I hope it has no (serious) impact. I hope I’m not influencing people one way or another because, you know, I’m just some guy who’s mouthing off. I don’t want to shape local politics too much.”

Ishmael does put his own political leanings on the site, however. A hint: The right-side banner is a large President Barack Obama campaign graphic with a header reading, “Thank YOU, Mr. President.”

“I think the impact that it’s had is that it’s something for people to read or get a kick out of,” Ishmael said. “Hopefully some people are looking forward to it every morning when they go to work. The hits are higher on weekdays. So people are at work, they turn on their computer and hopefully they go there and get a chuckle or find out something interesting.”

And while Kodiak Konfidential will likely remain Kodiak’s blogger king, Kodiakgriff said there’s plenty of room on the Internet for more Kodiak-related blogs.

“I would love to see more Kodiak blogs out there. We started off kinda gangbusters, but it’s going away. We’ve got a great place; why not share it with the world?”

Mirror writer Bradley Zint can be reached via e-mail at bzint@kodiakdailymirror.com.