Blogger who shared too much silenced

Sometimes too much information is not a good thing.
Take the Saudi student blogger who overshared her life with her readers. She is now suspended from school, which takes a dim view of what educators’ deem inappropriate behavior for a single girl.
The student, who lives in Riyadh, writes the blog “Riyadh Lovers” under the pseudonym “Mashael.”
But her musings about lovers’ lives caught the attention of school administrators. She was suspended effective the upcoming semester because “she shared too much,” according to the school principal.
Arab News could not reach Mashael for comment.
Some of the young woman’s readers expressed disappointment on Twitter while others felt that she got exactly what she deserved.
The blog is sort of a tamer online version of the infamous — depending on who is doing the reading — of the “Girls of Riyadh,” the racy 2005 novel by Rajaa Alsanaea that explored the personal lives of four young Saudi women.
Mashael’s story, however, was a fictional diary that might have had a bit too much romance. But many of her readers took her exploits literally,
“Her blog was an online diary,” said Hessa Al-Juhani, high school student. “She said it was fictional, but we all believe she was giving readers the details of her daily life. She gave fake names, but her descriptions were very specific, so there is no way she could have come up with these kind of stories.”
Omima Alwaad, a Twitter user, said: “We were surprised to find the blog no longer existed. We thought this girl had a bright future and could actually be a writer and turn her blog into a book.”
Alwaad likened the blog to the origins of “Girls of Riyadh."
“It is exactly how the Saudi best seller book ‘Girls of Riyadh’ started,” she said. “The writer was attacked by her society and then she became a globally celebrated writer.”
The blog became so well known among Riyadh’s teenagers that some students tried to solve the mystery of Mashael’s true identity.
When the blogger wrote that she was going to shop and post a photograph of the tony Tod’s handbag at a luxury mall, her followers camped out near the store to catch a glimpse of her. But like an elusive lover failing to arrive at a discreet rendezvous, she never showed up. And the mystery deepened.
“She posted a photo of one of the boutiques and everyone headed there to see her but they did not find her,” said Sarah Al-Otaibi, high school student in Jeddah. “Reading this on Twitter felt like I was watching the TV series ‘Gossip Girl’ where everyone wants to know who she is.”
Al-Otaibi said Mashael’s story needs closure.
“It was a great read and it entertained us but the sad part is that it ended without an ending to her story,” she said. “We enjoyed reading how life is for a teenager in Riyadh.”
Another Twitter subscriber, Raghad Saeed, said the blog’s readers only discovered the website was closed through a Twitter hashtag.
“This is how I found out many people are actually interested in these kinds of stories. They said she got into trouble,” she said. “The school and her mother put much pressure on her to cancel the blog. Is it sad to see this go away. It was entertaining and it is sad to see that Saudi girls are still kept from expressing themselves.”