Saudi Jeans

Here is a list of ten blogs that I think one should read in order to get a sense of the Saudi blogosphere and feel the real pulse of streets in the country. This is strictly my opinion; if you think there are other blogs that should have been included in the list please do leave a comment or, even better, you can make up your own list and post it on your blog. Note: blogs from 1-5 are in Arabic, while those from 6-10 are in English, however, the list is absolutely in no particular order.

‬1.‭ ‬Heaven’s Steps‬:‭ ‬Hadeel al-Hodhaif is one of the few‭ (‬the only‭?) ‬Saudi female bloggers to use her real name online.‭ ‬Her blog was mentioned on several big websites such as‭ ‬BBC Arabic, and she was interviewed on Al Jazeera‬.‭ ‬Earlier this year,‭ ‬Hadeel was invited to speak at a media conference in Oman,‭ ‬where she talked about her experience in the Saudi blogosphere.

‬2.‭ Mashi97‭:‬ ‬Khaled al-Nassir’s frankness and courage have gained him popularity in a short time,‭ ‬but also cost him a temporary brief absence after writing some fierce posts a few weeks ago.‭ ‬Fortunately,‭ ‬he is back now,‭ ‬with a much cooler head‭ ‬:-‭)

‭3‬.‭ A Tribe Called Sarah: ‬This blog,‭ ‬written by a student studying in Bahrain,‭ ‬is a homogeneous mixture of love,‭ ‬poetry,‭ ‬and humor.‭ ‬Many readers feels that Sarah’s memoir-style blog is some kind of a novel in the making.

‭4‬.‭ MagicKingdom‬:‭ Mohammed’s blog does not only ask good questions and start interesting conversations, but also offers a much needed view on the scene of culture and arts in the country.

‭5‬.‭ Entropy.MAX: ‬Entropy has been blogging for only few months,‭ ‬but over that short time she has proved what an outspoken,‭ ‬articulate blogger she is.‭ ‬It is not only about the issues she touches on,‭ ‬but also in the way she explores the different sides of these issues.

6‬.‭ SaudiSphere: ‬Aya is a young Saudi woman blogging from New York City,‭ ‬and her critical,‭ ‬angry blog is one of most interesting blogs written by Saudis who live abroad.‭ ‬One thing you would find on this blog that you can’t find anywhere else in the local blogosphere is Aya’s occasional selections of cartoons from newspapers all around the world.

7‬.‭ ‬Annals of a Space Cowboy‬: ‬The name says it all‭? ‬Nah‭! ‬In this blog,‭ ‬Fahad al-Butairi,‭ ‬aka Fedo,‭ ‬a student at the University of Texas,‭ ‬comments on news and posts some interesting YouTube videos.‭ ‬He is also a‭ ‬contributer to Global Voices‬,‭ ‬covering the Saudi blogosphere on semi-weekly basis.

‭8‬.‭ An Englishman in Saudi Arabia‬: I wrote about this blog for the first time in last December, and now he is back after some hiatus. This British blogger moved to Riyadh a while ago, and started this blog to record his adventures with tailgaters on our streets and ninjas in our shopping malls. Quite amusing.

‭9‬.‭ ‬Crossroads Arabia‭‬: ‬It is not the only Saudi blog written by non-Saudi,‭ ‬but definitely the best one in this category.‭ ‬Blogger John Burgess is a former US foreign service officer who has had two tours in Saudi Arabia.‭ ‬He describes his work as an effort to put the country into context,‭ ‬and his experience makes this blog one of the invaluable sources about Saudi Arabia on the web.

‬10.‭ ‬Rasheed’s World‭: ‬Rasheed Abul-Samh is a Saudi-American journalist.‭ ‬He is a senior editor at Arab News,‭ ‬and also reports for Christian Science Monitor and the New York Times.‭ ‬His ability to bring us the-story-behind-the-story is what makes his blog stands out.

Honorable mentions: There is also a few many Saudi blogs that I consider worth reading. Here’s some of them. In English: American_Bedu, S as in Saudi, and Kingdom of Lunacy. In Arabic: Bandar, OS X Arabia, Arab Tech Channel vlog!, and Prometheus.