Two years ago, when Arab bloggers appeared for the first time on the web, most of their weblogs — if not all — were written in English. Not a long time after that, some new Arab bloggers decided to start writing their weblogs in Arabic. There were some technical difficulties at the beginning, but eventually all the difficulties were solved.
However, the great growth of the Arab blogosphere seemed to move in two parallel lines. As a reader, and a blogger, I have noticed that English-writing Arab bloggers are living in their own world, and the Arabic-writing Arab bloggers are living in another world. Now to make things easier, let’s call the first group A, and the second group B.
The great divide can be shown clearly by the variation of the qualities in every group. For example, most members of group A are liberals who look to West with admire, and tend to criticize the situation in their countries harshly. They have little or no HTML knowledge, and they like to start blogging using a free service such as Blogger.
In the other hand, most members of group B are expert programmers who look to West in suspicious, and write their blogs with Islamic sense. Of course, there are some exceptions in both sides, but I can’t study every individual case in this article.
Such differences, and therefore such divide, is not a big a problem by itself, as long as A and B are communicating with each other properly. The big problem is coming next.
From my observations, I have noticed that A and B are living in two separate worlds. Every group seems isolated and enclosed with itself. Just take a look at Sabbah‘s blogroll, and then look at al-Mohareb‘s blogroll. You may refer this to personal preferences, but I think it reflects a deeper problem. Because other than the blogrolls, A members do not link to B members and vice versa. Furthermore, there are even smaller groups inside A and B, which looks so obvious in the case of the Kuwaiti blogs and the Egyptian blogs, where the two communities are very self-centered.
I think this is a serious problem because as most of you know “links are the building blocks of the web” and therefore the blogosphere. I can’t emphasize on this enough, but links are really important. And if the Arab blogosphere is to be built upon ignorance and denial, it will be a weak destructed world. This is unhealthy, and it cannot be good for our little beautiful world.
Saudi Jeans 
Excellent article Ahmed, very perceptive.
This is a “manual” trackback where I commented on your post… you should enable the trackback functionality so that you too can help in extending the reach of Arab bloggers…
Blogger dose not support trackbacks until now, and the other free services , such as Haloscan, are not good enough. I think I’ll write the Blogger team to implement this feature asap.
Came over via Mahmood.
Interesting entry. I wish you would mark the blog (A) for Arabic language or (E) for English, so I don’t waste time surfing over to something I can’t read. Example: Saudi Jeans (E).
Here is a manual trackback website which I use sometimes:
*http://kalsey.com/tools/trackback/
But it comes up as an error when I try to use it for Mahmood’s blog, so I never know whether he got it or not.
–button
Hello Ahmed,
I like your article, and I can’t help but leaving my own comment as well.
It’s weird, but I was just thinking about the same idea, before running into your article: the concentration of Kuwaiti blogs in one zone, and Egyptian blogs in another. I feel that, generally (and I say generally so no one misunderstands me), each group tends to form a close community, which doesn’t welcome “intruders” as much as it welcomes people from the same sphere.
As for groups A and B you have mentioned, I used to share your thoughts, but now I believe that if each one tried to step forward and communicate with the other, the ice will be often broken.
Ahmed, I agree with you on the divide issue, some of those guys can do some amazing web design and coding.
But judging peoples blog from their blogrolls is wrong. They may not link to each other but I am sure they are keeping tabs on each other.
I may have links on my blog that I frequent on a very little basis, but ones that I frequent a lot I have it memorized and view it everyday.
One thing about blogging and the web is there is always someone reading. And this is the first step to bring the divide closer. Sooner or later they will start commenting on each others blog and having debates. This is already happening with bloggers linking to other blogs in their posts. So there is some linking.
I dont think bloggers should put links in their blogroll of places and ideas they dont like or dont share the same mind set. Bloggers want to link to their interests and people like friends. You dont tell your friends places you hate first, but the places you enjoy and share a common bond with. This also goes with bloggers.
Your right about the self centered part, but also each community is like that. We are all looking for our best interests and people like us.
I will add any blog associated with Kuwait to KuwaitBlogs.com and also to Safat. No matter on their topic or beliefs. But people still have to click on them to read what they have to say.
I’m curious, why are middle-eastern blogs written in English at all? It seems that the very motivation for writing in English marks a deliniation for many bloggers. If writing in “langua Franca” then one could assume you are appealing to outsiders and are trying to speak to an audience with whom you would not otherwise speak.
If writing in arabic than one could assume that you have no intention of speaking to outsiders. So it seems that the very decision to blog in English shows that you are invisioning a different audience from that of your Arab blogging peers.
I am simply an outsider though so I don’t presume to know anything about the Middle-East blogaspere, just curious.
interesting observations yu got there!!
well JD, i dont think most Arabs blog in Ebnglish to attract ‘outsiders’. In the Arab world generally, english is the 2nd language and most business conduct is in english… english seems to b widespread
also, the fact that most internet content and computer usuage started out in latin characters and hence english so it sort of became the norm, however alot of arabic language websites r available.
JD hi!! Thank goodness some of the arab bloggers write English. I always race to the puter to read Muscati n Mahmouds blogs, they are truly amazing. I was really upset when Muscati mentioned free brains blog – went there and it was in arabic, he looks like he puts a lot of work into it, even the pictures are funny, but…… I can’t bloody read it. I have sent it to one of my arabic chums though so he can get a laff out of it.
Also JD, I have noticed that most of the local guys here, speak to each other in English. Quite a skill.
Enlighten me with your theory; “most members of group A are liberals who look to West with admire, and tend to criticize the situation in their countries harshly. They have little or no HTML knowledge, and they like to start blogging using a free service such as Blogger.”
In my opinion, when you base your theory from a personal level, without making a research, then it is baseless. With your theory, you are suggesting that most of our world, is based on white and black colors. Can such world be based on two colors only? Can’t we have brown? Red? Etc? Correct me if I am wrong.
Again, enlight me on how you based your theory.
Regards,
Khaled
Hey Khaled,
I never said it’s a theory. These are only obsrvations or impressions, and as I said, “I can’t study every individual case”.
السلام عليكم
على ما اعتقد لا تمانعون من كتابتي للتعقيب باللغة العربية :)
اللغة لا تشكل فارقا كبيرا في المدونات الاهم من ذلك كله التوجه والرسالة المراد توصيلها :)
فان كانت هناك مدونة يكتب صاحبها بالاوردو وهو شخص عربي لا مانع اذا ما كان يقدح في الاسلام او في علماء المسلمين
فكما قيل من رفع الاسلام ولو بالعامية قبلنا رأسه وذمه وقدح فيه ملأنا فمه ترابا
I see that “:)” is universal, that gives me hope :)
Thanks for stepping over to the other side of the divide you see. I hope none of us feels like an intruder. Linking to one’s immediate blogging shpere does not require those linked to are the only ones they follow, although mine are the ones I keep commenting on.
JD has a point: who are we addressing, and why? I would dare to push it a little further: they are not middle eastern blogs, rather all Arab ones. Internet began with a great bias towards English and anglophone content, and it is good to do something about it, for the sake of everybody and an inter-net.
Blogging in Arabic, I find myself looking for Arabic content to link to, or, in a few cases, creating it. I also would not say I am a follower of all the 100+ blogs on the Egyptian Blogring. I know more than one Arabic blogger who would love to read a Saudi liberal in Arabic. Feel most urged!
Blogging in Arabic has its drawbacks as well. One would be happy to see 6 comments on a post, or to see a 100 unique visitors a day (make them 50). Just as we are now able to blog in Unicode, I trust there will be time where all can use their mother tonuge (It is a lot easier for me, a simultaneous interpreter), and still “we can all be friends”. Hail Freddie Mercury!
My name is Al. I live in Florida USA.
It is my first meeting with blogging. It is extremely interesting to get ideas of real alive people in the other side of world. Thanks
Your blog is interesting, but all i find here is negative comments and complaining about your own country. And also I think you dont like that you are arab [or saudi]. And I think you are blind that you dont see the positive things about your own country. And also I think that you need serious help to enlighten you mind and to look at things positively rather then putting things under a lens.
And I am non-arab.
Hey, great post. I’ve heard this phenomenon referred to as “echo chambers.” Like you’re standing in a room listening to your own voice –those voices that agree with you. I guess what I find with the internet is that it can either give a way broader range of information, ie versus watching a news program, but also much narrower range depending on how much we follow our preferences.
Shalom Ahmed,
You wrote that “links are the building blocks of the web”.
The 7th thesis of the Cluetrain Manifesto says “Hyperlinks subvert hierarchy” and I think this is more imporatant for your cause.
http://cluetrain.com/
Hyperlinks also subvert borders and cultures. See this comment by me, for example. But links also carry cultural imperialism with them. Some people see this as a risk. I think this potential risk should be thought of before declared irrelevant.
I have translated the Manifesto into Hebrew. I think it’s time to translate it into Arabic too.
All the best,
Hanan Cohen – Israel
“self-centered”
because I’m new to this world “bloggers ” .. I cannot judg this situation , but I think from general view , that the problem caused by the above mentioned word “self-centered” !
because we are arab & we know our psychological nature, i can say that everyone has his own view so that he believes that he’s good or something. I cannot show my admiration to someone’s writing , because this will resulted in a sense of “infamy” if it’s the right word.
this is not strange to Arab people .. wther they write in arabic or english.
actually, i like to be liberal .. but i don’t prefer to write in english. I prefer to write in arabic to reach my society, what I want to get from my writing ? some english speakers’ admiration ??? No!
I want to reach my people , and suddenly change them !
I’m sorry about this long boring post .. but i just let go @
by the way, when i first saw the title , i thought it will talk about the western project to divide the middle east into parts according to the sectarian bases @ .. but it’s not to far ,, except in bloggers we already have divided !
thanx for this post Mr.Ahmed.
Keep writing in English… You are a window to a world few outside your region know. J-from NYC
Ahmed do you have a big headache after writing that article? lol :P
The problem is deep as you said, look at your generation 20years down the track. If this divide continues, and we continue having people you hate their own culture and feel inferior to the west. They just want to live that life and create their own world.
Then you have the other group, who basically accept all the narrow ways of arab culturism and shade it with a label of Islam.
If a common ground does not form, in 20years time, there will be a line, one group on one side, the other on the other side. Just like now, Al Saud, verse Change.
hi, i’m writing from australia.
i guess i think it’s great both types exist – A’s help people like me interract with another culture, while B’s help keep that culture alive.
anyway, i’m thankful to both.
keep up the good work.
If you liberal dissident folks didn’t write in English, no-one in the English-speaking world would know you exist, and I think it’s desperately important right now that the ESW does know you exist. I personally think some of the Saudi and Iranian blogs I’ve come across should be featured daily on the front page of the London Times until one or two messages sink in about the totality of Islam not being what certain self-appointed spokesmen for the British Muslim community want us to think it is. I’m British and old enough to have discovered Islamic art, poetry, glass and in short civilization before the streets of London were routinely filled with the offended uncivilized.
If you only blog in Arabic – then only Arab speakers will get your message. It’s that simple. I like to follow what’s going on around the world so for me english language blogs and are preferable. It does not matter if the spelling and grammar are wrong. What does matter is the content. My best wishes to you from Denmark. Dick.