RedWine
01-06-2006, 09:51 AM
What is a weblog? Technorati, an online authority on blogs states: “A weblog, or blog, is a personal journal on the web. Weblogs express as many different subjects and opinions as there are people writing them. Some blogs are highly influential and have enormous readership while others are primarily intended for a close circle of family and friends.” Indeed, a blog is like a personalized website or an online diary that is very easy to use and is a productive way of expressing yourself on the internet regarding a great many issues. In terms of its impact, The London Times Online could not have said it better:
http://www.persianmirror.com/images/edtorial/2006/bloggerLogo.gif
In 1999, there were perhaps 50 bloggers on the web; by next year, according to Perseus Development Corporation consultancy, some ten million blogs will have been created. Not since the 17th-century print explosion, which brought serial publication and pamphleteering to a genuinely mass market, has there been such an important shift in the way public opinion is created and shaped.
Part of the reason as to why blogging has grown so rapidly is because it is very user friendly. You do not need to know HTML, web design, or any program languages to operate a blog. In other words, if you can have a MySpace profile, you can maintain your own blog.
The fact that blogs are so easy to use have led to millions of people the world over to set up their own and communicate various ideas through the net. With the creation of the blog, the monopoly of information has been shattered and scattered to the individual. Just last year, eight million Americans registered their own blog this year looks even more promising. As Harpers Weekly notes, one blog is created every second. Blogger.com and livejournal.com are two of the more popular websites that allow you to host and design a blog for free.
The growing blog phenomenon is not limited to the United States, as it is rapidly spreading to Iran and Iranians in the diaspora. Iranian bloggers fall into two categories, those who blog in the Persian language within Iran and those Iranians who blog in English, which are mostly expatriates in America, Canada, Britian, Australia and even Japan. There are no statistics available regarding Iranians who blog in English, but according to London Times Online , “Persian is now the fourth most widely used language on web logs.” Furthermore, “out of the estimated 100 million blogs, approximately 700,000 come out of Iran of which about 40,000-110,000 are active.”
The growth of blogging in Iran got a big boost by veteran blogger, Hossein Derakhshan, who wrote instructions on "How to make a blog in Persian" on his blog (www.hoder.com). He subsequently spent more than six months promoting the whole concept of blogging by getting famous people to blog and spent countless hours on the phone trying to solve their technical problems. Within one month of publishing his instructions, over one hundred Persian weblogs emerged. According to Nema Milaninia, an Iranian-American law student at UC Hastings and a blogger for more than three years, blogging in Iran grew as a phenomenon “because it gave people a mechanism to speak freely in a society which limits those freedoms.” Many users within Iran are journalists who find the internet and the blog a more suitable avenue of expression.
Blogging is becoming so popular in Iran that one former vice president, Muhammad Ali Abtahi, operated his own blog .In this last election, one of the presidential candidates, Dr. Mustafa Moin, found bloggers and blogging so influential that he not only set up his own to help his presidential campaign, but also met with influential Iranian bloggers to enlist their support for his candidacy. Although bloggers failed to leave their mark on the 2005 presidential race in Iran, the growth of the internet and the blog has many analysts predicting that it could effect the future communication of new ideas the way the Telegraph did during the Constitution Revolution of 1905-1906 and the way the audio cassette tape did during the Iranian Revolution of 1979.
In terms of Iranians who blog outside of Iran, Mr. Milaninia believes that “many Iranian-Americans are now blogging because they see limited discourse in their own community on history and politics and too much emphasis on the social scene.” Blogs range anywhere from sports to personal online diaries, from cooking to news, but according to Mr. Milaninia, many Iranians who blog in English pay special attention to “political issues because the international community outside of Iran lacks a concrete understanding of salient issues facing Iran and Iranians. Thus, spreading awareness on Iran, its history, its culture, and current issues, via the blog, is a productive remedy.”
Mr. Milaninia was inspired to start his own blog by reading an encouraging article by another Iranian blogger, Pedram Moallemian who subsequently motivated me to start my own blog It's had a domino effect and this article may continue that trend and encourage you to start your own blog.
Blogging has many advantages. It links you to a greater community discussing any topic of interest and allows you to convey your opinions as well as expand your knowledge. Furthermore, it is a great way to practice freedom of speech and to improve your writing skills.
To learn more about how to register and maintain your own blog, please go to blogger.com.
http://www.persianmirror.com/images/edtorial/2006/bloggerLogo.gif
In 1999, there were perhaps 50 bloggers on the web; by next year, according to Perseus Development Corporation consultancy, some ten million blogs will have been created. Not since the 17th-century print explosion, which brought serial publication and pamphleteering to a genuinely mass market, has there been such an important shift in the way public opinion is created and shaped.
Part of the reason as to why blogging has grown so rapidly is because it is very user friendly. You do not need to know HTML, web design, or any program languages to operate a blog. In other words, if you can have a MySpace profile, you can maintain your own blog.
The fact that blogs are so easy to use have led to millions of people the world over to set up their own and communicate various ideas through the net. With the creation of the blog, the monopoly of information has been shattered and scattered to the individual. Just last year, eight million Americans registered their own blog this year looks even more promising. As Harpers Weekly notes, one blog is created every second. Blogger.com and livejournal.com are two of the more popular websites that allow you to host and design a blog for free.
The growing blog phenomenon is not limited to the United States, as it is rapidly spreading to Iran and Iranians in the diaspora. Iranian bloggers fall into two categories, those who blog in the Persian language within Iran and those Iranians who blog in English, which are mostly expatriates in America, Canada, Britian, Australia and even Japan. There are no statistics available regarding Iranians who blog in English, but according to London Times Online , “Persian is now the fourth most widely used language on web logs.” Furthermore, “out of the estimated 100 million blogs, approximately 700,000 come out of Iran of which about 40,000-110,000 are active.”
The growth of blogging in Iran got a big boost by veteran blogger, Hossein Derakhshan, who wrote instructions on "How to make a blog in Persian" on his blog (www.hoder.com). He subsequently spent more than six months promoting the whole concept of blogging by getting famous people to blog and spent countless hours on the phone trying to solve their technical problems. Within one month of publishing his instructions, over one hundred Persian weblogs emerged. According to Nema Milaninia, an Iranian-American law student at UC Hastings and a blogger for more than three years, blogging in Iran grew as a phenomenon “because it gave people a mechanism to speak freely in a society which limits those freedoms.” Many users within Iran are journalists who find the internet and the blog a more suitable avenue of expression.
Blogging is becoming so popular in Iran that one former vice president, Muhammad Ali Abtahi, operated his own blog .In this last election, one of the presidential candidates, Dr. Mustafa Moin, found bloggers and blogging so influential that he not only set up his own to help his presidential campaign, but also met with influential Iranian bloggers to enlist their support for his candidacy. Although bloggers failed to leave their mark on the 2005 presidential race in Iran, the growth of the internet and the blog has many analysts predicting that it could effect the future communication of new ideas the way the Telegraph did during the Constitution Revolution of 1905-1906 and the way the audio cassette tape did during the Iranian Revolution of 1979.
In terms of Iranians who blog outside of Iran, Mr. Milaninia believes that “many Iranian-Americans are now blogging because they see limited discourse in their own community on history and politics and too much emphasis on the social scene.” Blogs range anywhere from sports to personal online diaries, from cooking to news, but according to Mr. Milaninia, many Iranians who blog in English pay special attention to “political issues because the international community outside of Iran lacks a concrete understanding of salient issues facing Iran and Iranians. Thus, spreading awareness on Iran, its history, its culture, and current issues, via the blog, is a productive remedy.”
Mr. Milaninia was inspired to start his own blog by reading an encouraging article by another Iranian blogger, Pedram Moallemian who subsequently motivated me to start my own blog It's had a domino effect and this article may continue that trend and encourage you to start your own blog.
Blogging has many advantages. It links you to a greater community discussing any topic of interest and allows you to convey your opinions as well as expand your knowledge. Furthermore, it is a great way to practice freedom of speech and to improve your writing skills.
To learn more about how to register and maintain your own blog, please go to blogger.com.