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Arabic blogging

December 7, 2009

What can blogs really achieve? Mohammed Sahli, blogger and organizer of the Arabic Blog Awards talks about the development of the Arabic blogosphere, its future and the social role of blogs.

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Mohammed Sahli: BOBs jury member for Arabic.Image: Mohammed Sahli

The story of Arabic blogging has a rather mundane beginning: the first blogs were all about personal interests and observations. It was only later, after much development, that blogs transformed themselves into media for freedom of expression and symbols of social change. Some companies saw them as marketing tools and so contributed to their spread. Then some bloggers started earning money with their blogs. But when we talk about blogging in the Arabic sphere, one thing has to be made plain: blogs have not fulfilled the expectations and hopes placed in them as instruments of socio-political change.

Blogs in Arabic began to appear in 2005. At first they were few, and most people didn’t even know what the word "blog" meant. Although the quantity was small, the quality was high.

From forums to blogs

In the following years, the Arabic blogosphere began to grow. Some bloggers tried with increasing force to challenge the role of the press in so far as they - at least in a limited way - offered more room for freedom of expression. As a consequence, many Internet portals started offering free and unlimited services to people wanting to start their own blogs. The content of the blogs that grew out of this so-called "online revolution" didn’t differ much from the online forums. Many Internet users simply copied their forum content and pasted it into a separate blog.

In 2007, the number of Arabic blogs grew even further. Like a virus, this growth brought the disadvantages and chaos of the Arabic forums into the blogosphere. This led to the blogs having an equally poor quality of content. The content did not in any way answer the expectations of those who had looked to blogs as an instrument of social change.

Arabic blog platforms

In the early years, blogs were often created using the Google service Blogger.com. However, the majority of Arabic bloggers could not use this program because it was written in English. Little by little Arabic platforms sprang up and with them, more blogs. From the point of view of quality, however, these blogs were equally disappointing.

There are, however, exceptions. Many bloggers have managed to break away from the crowd. They have created blogs in order to share their knowledge and their skills and, in doing so, they have often landed themselves in difficulties. Some have been the victims of state persecution.

Blogs and political meaning

In 2008, there was a campaign in Egypt to try and mobilize people through social media. On April 6, a group of Egyptian Facebook members called for a general strike in protest at the rising cost of food. Many bloggers picked up on the campaign and in doing so, helped to mobilize people onto the streets. The result was astonishing and the strike was a success. The question as to how big a role the bloggers played in this victory remains open, but Egyptian bloggers are proud to have, as they see it, "shaken the throne."

On the night of the general strike, the Egyptian government issued a statement vehemently criticizing the planned action. In doing so, the government indirectly contributed to the strike's success. The government had wanted to intimidate the public, but in fact did the opposite. The following year the government simply ignored online calls for a strike, and the action was unsuccessful.

Other examples are, however, more positive. In Kuwait in 2006, bloggers tried, through the "Nabiha Khamsa" campaign, to effect changes in the election system by limiting the number of constituencies. The campaign was successful, a victory which can be directly attributed to the bloggers. Interestingly, the number of Kuwaiti bloggers is much smaller than the number in Egypt.

What can bloggers change really?

I don't want to belittle the influence of blogs. They have played an important role in many events and have left their mark. But the media has over-played their influence to the extent that many bloggers have become convinced that they are capable of changing society and establishing democracy.

In assessing the importance of the Arabic blogosphere, I would like to float the following questions: Have Arabic bloggers helped the children in war-torn Gaza? Have Arabic bloggers contributed to an aid effort like that of US citizens following Hurricane Katrina? Have Arabic bloggers curbed corruption or caused regime change? The answer to these questions is no.

The future of the Arabic blogosphere

Blogging in the Arabic world is currently the activity of individuals. The particularities of Arabic society demand, however, that this individual activity transform itself into a collective activity with the goal of achieving deep-reaching political change. It should be possible to take the campaign in Kuwait as a model and to apply it to other Arabic countries. In this way, Arabic bloggers could, in the future, contribute to the transformation of their society. Of course, this is no easy task, and it will take both time and money.

Many things have to happen before bloggers in the Arabic world can really start to make a difference: institutions have to be democratized, access to independent news sources has to be improved, the law has to be reformed, freedom of press and freedom of opinion protected and Internet access improved. Without all this, blogs will remain a platform for small talk and will fail to achieve social change.

Mohammed Sahli is an author and blogger. In 2009 he launched an Arabic blog competition (arabisk-award.com). He is also director of the Internet agency Kalima Press, which, amongst other things, provides blog services. Mohammed Sahli lives and works in Morocco.

Editor: Sean Sinico