More than a year ago, I posted my list of top ten Saudi blogs. Things have changed since then. Hadeel passed away, Rasheed moved from Jeddah to Abu Dhabi to Brazil, and few more others are no longer actively blogging. So I thought I will need to update the list. Similar to the old one, blogs from 1-5 are in Arabic, while those from 6-10 are in English, however, the list is absolutely in no particular order.
- Yassir al-Ghaslan: He is an old media guy, coming from Saudi Arabia’s largest media empire SRPC, but earlier this year he embraced new media big time: blogging, podcasting and vlogging. His blog also features some interesting guest bloggers.
- Ljo2 Qalam: In order to protect himself from a passing storm, Thmuar al-Marzougi decided to take his blog down for some time, but there is no question that this blog has been one of the most active and controversial destinations in the Saudi blogosphere in 2008.
- Marwan’s Blog: If Thumar bent to avoid a storm, then this guy has taken the blogosphere by storm. Marwan’s hot start has given the impression of a snarky edgy blogger who has nothing to lose, but he has obviously slowed down since he moved to Manchester to pursuit his education.
- Yazeed.net: Now this is different. Instead of offering his personal views and commentary like everybody else, Yazeed regularly features some nostalgia-inducing goodies from the ‘80s and ‘90s. Those should bring some really sweet memories for my generation of bloggers in our 20’s.
- Najla: She is articulate. She is sweet. She is controversial. She can be many things, but certainly not lame. This how I usually like to describe her: she has one of the most interesting female voices in the Saudi blogosphere.
- Crossroads Arabia: John Burgess keeps his spot on the list as he continues his daily effort to put Saudi Arabia in context. Essential reading for anyone interested in a country that is full of contradictions and paradoxes.
- In the Making: My friend Aysha has studies screenwriting in the US and recently came back home to tackle the absurdity of living in the capital. She seems to be coping well, but she is currently seeking a new direction for her blog. My suggestion: short stories from Riyadh.
- American Bedu: Carol Fleming’s blog got an honorable mention last time. Since then she moved the blog to a new domain and keeps adding valuable content. This daily updated blog is certainly one of my favourites.
- Hala_in_USA: I started reading for Hala al-Dossary in Arabic in al-Hayat daily where she writes regularly. She later moved to the US to study and started this English blog where we get a chance to read her observations about this experience among other things.
- Saudiwoman’s Blog: I’ve never met Eman al-Nafjan, but a friend of mine that I introduced to Eman blog met her and described her as one impressive Saudi woman. Some of my favourite posts on her blog include those about notable Saudi personalities.
I was going to list some blogs at the end that I think worth checking out, but I realized there are quite a few of those and I will probably forget many of them. That’s why I will advice you to keep an eye on the Lifestream section at the right sidebar of this blog where I frequently link to interesting posts from all around the blogosphere. Finally, I would like to repeat that 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.
Related:
- Yazeed posts a graphical version of this blog post. Thanks!
Saudi Jeans 
Nice to know your top ten. I’m curious – what are some of your favourite blogs from around the region, by which I mean the Gulf?
From Bahrain I like Mahmood and Ali, from Kuwait Zaydoun, Shurouq and Sahat al-Safat, from UAE The Lands of Sands… Those the ones I can remember right now but I guess there are some more.
Ahmed Thank you so much for including me and I’m pretty sure that we will eventually meet.
Ahmed, Thanks for your continued confidence!
Ahmad, reading the lifestream section on your blog has been introducing to me a lot of interesting bloges and topics, and has become one of my daily routine since February this year. Keeps up Ahmad
I like Crossroads Arabia because I don’t usually like talking about Saudi Arabia with fellow Saudis. :P
what you did is more than warm friendly feelings it mad my day Thanks to be one of the ten
Lame blogs
Thanks Ahmed for your kind words :)
show me just ONE intellectual saudi blog, you won’t find any because saudis are brain dead even the so called “educated” ones
Thanks Ahmad for including my blog, I’m honored. I read your Arabic post on blogging, and I do see many blogs out there beyond your classification of the two blog types, I blog to express my thoughts and not as a Saudi person only. although It may be used to identify a trend about the country and the people, I rather keeping blogging free from labeling and consider it as a way to express individual thinking rather than countries or groups.
Ahmed,
Thank you very much for including American Bedu among your English language Saudi blogs. I think we have an obligation here in Saudi to supplement, compliment as well as dispute what is published in the media about Saudi Arabia.
Best Regards,
Carol
Ahmed, Thank you So Much for your very sweet and kind words… It is an honor for me..
Ahmed,
I second you on every single blog you wrote up there, but you forgot one of the most influential blogs on the Saudi Web, Bandar Raffah’s blog, its an outstanding blog and in my modest opinion is a must-read blog:
http://bandar.raffah.com/wp/
I’m recently enjoying (Yasser Al-Ghaslan) and (American Bedu) blogs, they are overwhelming, and will sure pay a visit to the rest inshallah = )
Keep up the good work,
very useful.. thanks
Interesting… thanks…
how about listings some blogs that oppose your views…
I wish i could return to my old self and read such matters, wish i could be less careless.
Ahmed, thank you very much for the suggestion. I will truly be taking it to heart. After all, stories appeal to my wanting to communicate personal perceptions of things as they happened and refrain as much as possible from dicatiting the moral.
إلى
وزير العمل والشؤون الاجتماعية
المملكة السعودية من جزيره العرب
صاحب السعادة ،
وأود أن أتكلم نيابة عن جميع العاملين في الشركة من Herfy في المملكة أنها لا تقدم لا بأس به من حصتها من الشركة وأنتم في تحليل أو مقارنة وفقا لاحتياجاتهم الأساسية ودفع ساعات العمل في سجلات الشركات. philipines من المواطنين ، والهند ، وسري لانكا ، نيبال ، بنجلاديش ، وما لم تفعل ذلك إلى حد أنه بسبب وضعهم اللا عقلانيون والسلوكيات اللاإنسانية. هل يمكن مقارنة هذه الرعايا الأساسية لدفع الأفريقية الأخرى contigents سوف تجد غير مناسبة وغير عادلة في هذه النتيجة. وفي حين أن بعض مواطني هذه هي عمل اكثر صعوبة وأكثر من تلك التي efficients الوطنيين الأفريقيين. في المؤهلات التعليمية والأخلاقية والخلفيات أنها أفضل من الآن أكثر منهم. في العمل والخبرات وقدرات العمل هي الآن أكثر وأعلى من تلك التي على درجة عالية من الكفاءة وغيرهم من الأفارقة. ولكن للاسف ، انهم قد أهملت أو لم تعط الفرصة المناسب في المكان الذي تستحقه من قبل إدارة Herfy. في هذه الطريقة من إدارة الأعمال التجارية والعمل الخبرات Natinals الفلبين أكبر من المعارف ويعود لأسباب تعليمية أفضل. ولكن إذا ما قورنت إلى أن الوطني الافريقي في فقا لجدول المرتبات الأساسية بدءا من أعلى المواقع التي اعتبرها من مدير هذه الشركة في أنها تستغل منذ فترة طويلة أو معاملة غير عادلة بسبب اعتقادهم وهي في مجملها غير المسلمين. وسأعطي فقط بعض الأمثلة في هذا الخصوص أن السيد Rubeb Babor من مدينة سيبو ، الفلبين هي تعتبرها أكثر المؤهلين ، والخبرة diciplined مدير Herfy أن يكون لها في أي وقت مضى بالنسبة لعمله الإخلاص والعروض. ولكن في أساس له من جدول الأجور وليس من المناسب المقارنة بين المصرية لبعض المديرين الذين تحملوا فوائد بعض الفلبينية Asst. وتولى مديرو الائتمان من عملهم أنهم سوف لا تستخدم أو أوصت بها لتشجيع هؤلاء المديرين أنفسهم أو اتخاذ الاستفادة من الشركة ذاتها. لقد عرفت واحدة الفلبينية Asst. مدير Rabadon اسمه ليتو الذي يعمل بجد ومكرسة لأعماله ولكن كل عمل له الائتمانية التي اتخذها مدير فارس المصري من تعزيز نفسه في الشركة.
صاحب السعادة ، ولهذا السبب أود أن ملف هذه الخطية ويشكو من أن أطلب منكم أن الوزارة لفحص جميع من التفصيل معلومات عن Herfy إدارة سجل في أنه يقع المكتب الرئيسي في مدينة الرياض في morouj. الخاص بك يمكن التحقق من مسؤولين في وزارة واحدة تلو الأخرى لمواطني كل محنة وأنها تعاني منذ فترة طويلة تواجه في يد الإدارة Herfy قبل فترة طويلة. هل هذه الشركة تتبع معيار prosedure جديدة من العمالة السعودية إصلاحات أو الحقوق الممنوحة لهم؟ اعتقد ان الوزارة قد لتحليل كل إدارة بدءا من كبار المسؤولين إلى انخفاض مستوى الموظف من هذه الشركة. وسأبعث هذه يشكو السعودية لحقوق الإنسان مجموعة جدا ، واتخاذ التدابير اللازمة لمكافحة هذه المسألة لتحسين ظروف العمل بين العمال وحقوقهم.
وفيما يتعلق تتفضلوا معلومات ،
يا معالي
Prabal راي
موظف سابق Herfy
جميع البيان أعلاه صحيح وأنا سيكون مسؤولا إذا كان هذا الكلام غير صحيح ، وأنا ضحية لهذا Herfy سوء التدبير العلاجي
Since I started my blog a couple of months ago, I was wondering where the hell is everybody? But now I wonder how will I have time to follow all of these!!
great blogs. We need more Arab blogs to express our feelings and understanding. Thank you.
….
غاية في الروعة
عجائب وغرائب