Is it lashon hora to talk trash about anonymous bloggers?

It would seem to me that bad-mouthing* an anonymous blogger is tantamount to bad-mouthing a fictional character in a novel--there is no object of the gossip, no person to shame or offend. Obviously, I don't advocate being nasty in any context, especially since even no-namers have real feelings, but in terms of pure lashon hora and publicly damaging a person's name, is it considered harmless to lambaste a fake persona who's name is ultimately meaningless? I would think... not?

*I am not discussing the issue of exposing an anonymous blogger's real identity, because that would obviously be a malicious move--one which I am sure is asur.