Trouble gets Jordanian bloggers more attention
Living in a little haven in the middle of the world’s most tremulous region could frustrate your chances at getting global recognition as a blogger. The world seems to be always looking for trouble to report on, and there is a lot of it for daily currency- just not here.
You report on the frequent price or tax increases, common governmental alterations, or cultural observations and you have almost consumed your share of the web. You may choose to have your say on the politics of a neighboring country, the situation in Iraq or the upheavals in Egypt but you are “out of the picture” if you’re not a native and this would not grant you the attention you may be seeking.
Back in November, the world was interested in the Amman bombings. Most Jordanian bloggers provided excellent and timely coverage of that dark time and this earned them good stats and media coverage. But, short-spanned as it is, the world’s attention shifted to a bigger, newer, juicier bit of news and most Jordanian bloggers saw a change in their stats trends.
And not to go back that far in your archives, the Danish cartoon controversy put great emphasis on what Muslim people thought of the matter and, Jordanians being mostly Muslim, they got their share.
That said, it is certainly not to prefer trouble striking home over tranquility for the sake of exposure. Would you agree a pattern exists as I see it?
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
May 31st, 2006 at 11:50 pm
I definitely agree with you, Tololy. This pattern also makes its way into my personal writing; I seem more inspired to write when there is turmoil, be it personal or on a larger scale. Interesting!
June 1st, 2006 at 12:20 am
People want to hear about some "Scoops" but lately there hasn’t been any, people are tired of reading about all of the killings in Iraq and in Palestine, they need to read about something a little more bright, unfortunately, it has been nothing but a portrait of anxiety and apprehension.
June 1st, 2006 at 4:31 am
I think the best blog writing models itself on the best traditions of essay writing–veering between personal and political, noting that which is worthy of praise and censor.
June 1st, 2006 at 5:25 am
Tololy, <br />A pattern definitely exist, as it does in most other forms of media. When the Omar Khayam movie came out in the US, people flocked to their browsers to google "Khayam" and "Persian Poetry" for example. After a while, it died off.<br /><br />What’s more interesting is that some bloggers try and "ride" this pattern. They write for the stats, controversy, exposure, they use their blogs to scream "Look at me!!". I’m more a fan of the ones that write simply to write.<br />
June 2nd, 2006 at 9:59 am
There is a nice chinese- if I am not mistaken- saying in which the person begs Fate: "please spare me from living in an interesting era". So, in the end of the day, this hunt for catastrophes, disasters, bombs, the sufferings of other people (a sadistic search after all, under the pretext of keeping informed and updated) may be adding numbers of viewers. But the real interaction, the thing that might make blog an almost classical genre of text, comes with people who connect to each other for more than the fragments of blood-dripping news.
June 3rd, 2006 at 2:11 am
Idea well thought out. I agree with Alb Sayed on this.<br /><br />On another note, I believe the Chinese thing is a curse, Vas, and it goes: "May you live in interesting times." Having said that, I would also like to add that I agree whole-heartedly with what you said.<br /><br />Whilst it is important to discuss and analyze these "bloody" or news-worthy (or whatever you want to call it), I think Blogs, in their most basic form, should be an expression of who we are.<br /><br />
June 3rd, 2006 at 11:34 am
[…] Tololy wrote an interesting post the other day entitled: “Trouble gets Jordanian bloggers more attention”. It was basically about how Jordan is quite the small humble country without that storm of attention that comes by way of national events which have the whole world talking. Which means that Jordanian bloggers only get the attention they deserve when there’s “trouble”. The word “trouble” got me thinking, but that other kind of trouble. The trouble that has lead to Arab bloggers see the insides of a jail cell. And I’m talking about getting in trouble for actually blogging, or for what you’ve written on your blog. Every Arab country differs from the other. Some play a bigger role on the international stage, mostly for doing something bad. And others are more low key. I think Jordan is one of the latter. Also, every country differs in it’s approach to Internet censorship. Till now there have been no signs that you can actually get in trouble for blogging in Jordan. I do know for a “fact” that Jordanian blogs are monitored. But other than that, I have no idea. I don’t know if “they” take it seriously, if they’re waiting for someone up the chain of command to tell them to take it seriously. […]
April 1st, 2008 at 1:40 am
[…] I wrote about this before when I noted that it is only when there is significant trouble that Jordanian bloggers garner international media attention. I think that is truly sad, because in each and every country in the Arab region there are bloggers who make change with every post, bloggers who have distinct voices rarely heard in mainstream media, bloggers who humanize Arabs and who affect, even if slowly, public opinions in their countries. It is such a waste not to listen to what they say or to cram them all under the category of one country and yet ignorantly stamp that piece ‘Arab blogging.’ It is a shame. […]