Excerpts from my last post on Blogging Trends made it to the news. Tara Limbu, Reporter for Bhutan Times newspaper, and a dear friend of mine, sent me this piece that appeared in 27th September edition of the newspaper
More Bhutanese are taking to Blogging
TARA LIMBU
THIMPHU
If you can write, you can blog too. If you cannot write, you can still blog. That is how simple it is to be a blogger.
Free blog sites like blogspot.com where you can create your own profile page and upload write ups and pictures are giving Bhutanese writers a new leash of life.
Welcome to the world of bloggers where Bhutanese are getting caught up every which way.
It’s a platform for expression and creativity, say the bloggers.
“Blogging at least keeps me busy when I have got nothing else to do. Writing is not suffering,” an avid blogger says.
A cursory glance through the Bhutanese blogosphere is enough to convince you what they have been so busily punching in.
From personal experiences, political views to writings on current issues, from poems to venting out frustrations, everything is there.
While some use the blogs to advertise their products (in case of a company), others use it as a technical forum. For a few it is for whimsical ravings, and for others it is about philosophical outpourings. Think of any subject, and viola, there will at least be hundred blogs on it.
Manju Wakhley who completed MSc in biodiversity conservation and management from London has been a steady blogger since 2007. She says blogs to her are her cluttered papers that no longer get lost but remains lingering in the humungous cyberspace which she can always retrieve.
“My blog represents not only my thoughts and how dynamic they are, it in some vague ways monitors my growth as a writer, which honestly hasn't been much,” she says. “The contents of my blog are anything spontaneous that I write mostly poems and prose.”
“Unlike networking groups like face book and twitter, where a profile is created and people are added to a group of friend at face value, blogging is more intrinsic and extensive,” says Sonam Dorji, who has been blogging for five years.
He says links and people are added or followed depending on what the bloggers appreciate and value.
“Think of it as searching for Easter eggs,” he says, “It is interesting, more interesting than adding and subtracting people of networking groups like face book. You might come across a gem of a blog you might not want to part in life.”
Citizen journalism?
Blogging was defined across the world as the next big thing in media and it is proving to be one.
Barack Obama, the president of the United States giving a telephonic interview to American bloggers tells of the magnitude of blogging in shaping public opinions.
Tired of conventional media, citizens are using this new media to communicate their views on issues.
“The sort of connection that a blogger has with the common man the mass media lacks. The element of person is introduced in a blog. This has given birth to what we today know as citizen journalism,” says Dinesh Pradhan, who is a medical student in India and a blogger.
Some members of the public have realized that sometimes they are the ones at the forefront making news and rather than having their stories told by others, says Thinley Namgay, a civil servant. “They resort to giving their own accounts. They even bring out stories as they happen, and if that’s not breaking news then what is?”
A few bloggers point out that mainstream media can incorporate blogs that deal with serious issues that have been neglected or missed out.
This form of ‘participatory journalism’ has however been criticized for its lack of credibility and respect for copyright.
“But beyond that its impact on the psyche of the common man is undeniable and cannot be ignored by the conventional media for long,” says Dinesh Pradhan.
Who regulates the online content?
With the increasing numbers of bloggers, it is feared, if not regulated properly, it may go out of hand.
Bloggers can write about anything and everything and at times they may even misuse the freedom to defame others, says Sonam Tobgay, an IT engineer.
According to the Bhutan InfoComm and Media Authority (BICMA) Act 2006, it shall be the duty of the authority so far as it is practical from time to time, to regularly review ICT and media activities being carried out both within and outside Bhutan.
The BICMA director, Kinley T Wangchuk, says there is no specific regulation to monitor the online contents of the blogs.
“We are working on a draft on internet/online content. First draft is almost complete but we need to refine it,” he adds.
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I would like to thank her for this, maybe take her out for a drink next time I'm home ;)
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