Monday, February 09, 2004

Iraq Blog Count has very rightly been taken to task for making provocative statements.

The issue is this, should bloggers who desire recognition as Kurdistan bloggers be counted as Iraq blogs or not? This is, believe it or not, part of an issue Iraq blog count crops up against often, and inevitably ends up making a vague decision about guided only by a sort of vague instinct. For instance, on discovering Soldiers blogs:

- Oh no! what to do! I hadn't expected soldiers to be blogging, well i can't ignore them, but to begin counting them, - there are thousands of soldiers deployed all over the world right now - where could it possibly end!

Or on linking journalists blogs:

- is G's blog an Iraq blog or a journo blog? Well, technically, maybe a journo, but on the other hand, Salam & Raed and G were sort of Iraq blog catalysts, for a time Salam and G seemed to be the only Iraq bloggers - Iraq Blog Count couldn't just ditch G's blogs when more showed up - it'd be like starting to count backwards.

And then, those peaceworkers blogs - what of those bloggers? They are blogging one minute from New York or who knows where, and the next from Jordan or Baghdad - where do they fit the picture? Not to mention civil affairs, "Peace Corps" reconstruction workers who are activated from army reserves. Then there was that guy who is sounding very British and seems to have British parents, but seems he was born in Iraq (or at least spent his childhood there) and is blogging about Iraq from the UK. And those Iraqis who are blogging from Dallas and from Canada! These are just a few examples , but you get the picture. Yeeek, how does one deal with all this! People! You are all just being so individualist! So diverse! So, so, rich and varieteous and mixed up, and, well, so human really.

Well, for a while Iraq Blog count got away with things, "Iraq" in the end just seemed to sum it all up (after of course mild title-agony; Iraq or Iraqi Blog Count? Blogs or Bloggers?) And then, just when things looked like sorting themselves out, uh-oh, some guys show up blogging from Kurdistan! What? Is that like Northern Iraq? Or is it Kurdistan, a state? Or is it some kind of new virtual territory in the Blogosphere? Now what is a blog counter to do! To count as Iraq? Would that be ignoring the issue? To not mention at all? Well, that'd be ignoring an issue too, and the principle here has always been to be inclusive, to attempt the bigger picture, to be peaceable, and to also face challenge.

So, eventually, a clumsy decision was made and a brief post probably lacking in tact and diplomacy published. Well, that post is still there - just down below, to remind everyone (and me) of my human failings and inept use of discretion. Iraq Blog Count still is a little unsure how to resolve this, and apologises to anyone who may have been offended.

Essentially Iraq Blog Count operates on the premise that bloggers support each other, and support each others differences, especially during these times. As the number of Iraq bloggers increases (small increase as it is so far) so increases the need to keep some record of who is blogging. For, among other things, knowing who is blogging is also knowing who stops, and if they are ok.

So please, if you have something to say about this, email Iraq Blog Count with your advise/thoughts/feedback. Maybe need to get comments here also (which is another issue that has been delayed).

Well, thats enough controversy for this week. Did have a couple of other contentious posts in the drawer, but just feeling the way here and not sure this is the place for them.

0 Comments

Post a Comment

<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours? Weblog Commenting by HaloScan.com

Site
Meter