June 30, 2009

One of the area's most popular blogs, cVillain, is shutting down.

The manager of cVillain, Kyle Redinger, gave many reasons for the final sign-off, several of which can be found on the site's last post called Picking Your Battles: Goodbye cVillain. Ultimately, Redinger says it is time to give the site back to the community it was intended for.

In the last two years, the site has touched on topics from politics to entertainment and everything in between.

"We've tried to build a site where the community feels empowered to write comments and articles the same way that any admin or editor of the site would be able to," said Redinger.

cVillain averaged hundreds of thousands of hits every month, with comments both good and bad. Redinger says, as a manager, he wasn't just standing up for the site, but for the entire community, a role that brings with it a burden.

"If things aren't positive then we have to deal with negative ramifications from restaurant owners, other local media, and from other people in the community. Over time it just wears you down and you just don't want to deal with it anymore," said Redinger.

Local bloggers say this shutdown is significant because the site fills a gap in this community of personal, corporate, and news blogs.

"What we hadn't had before cVillain filled that gap was a resource for popular culture and gossip. It's kind of this community's Huffington Post or TMZ, and it's really been significant because it's provided a resource in that entertainment we want," said local blogger, Marijean Jaggers.

Redinger says the cVillain team is asking to see if anyone wants to take over the site, but it won't likely be run the way it has. In his words, he hopes the site will continue serve as a raw Democratic forum.

As for life after blogging, Redinger says he will be devoting 100% of his time trying to starting a new gym called Crossfit Charlottesville.