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Blogging behind bars!

Global Voices is running a story on Alaa Ahmed Seif al-Islam, an award-winning Egyptian blogger who has been detained three days ago for participating in a protest in Cairo. Alaa is now blogging from prison!

Today it hit me, Alaa began his post, I am really in prison. I amm not sure how I feel. The way fellow prisoners look at me tells me I do not feel well but I cannot really feel it.

And according to Andy Carvin, Alaa Is not the first person to blog from prison. Andy commented on Global Voices stating that there is a death row blogger in the USA, Vernon Lee, who, whilst waits for his execution, hand-writes his blog entries and then has them posted from the outside. Apparently Alaa is doing the same. View his blog here.

So what s the crux about this post? Well, I have been covering people and their issues for a while now, such as the WanderingScribe and Operation Eden, now Alaa Ahmed Seif al-Islam and Vernon Lee. These are all personal accounts that have been spread via the blogosphere and have created world wide reactions and awareness. People s lives and livelihoods can be made totally transparent, even if they are homeless or even stuck in prison. This transparency is good in that they have the opportunity to voice themselves and allow other people to voice their opinions too, to aid or to just create discussion and awareness.

I am however apprehensive to the authenticity of blogs in general, and this has been an argument against this phenomenon for a while now, due to the fact that anybody can blog and post what they will. There are no editorial procedures, which makes blogging such a powerful and free tool, but what happens when this is misused? Do blogs bridge a form of social divide with the decrease in the digital divide? Does the blogosphere have any impact on social / political / economic implications, or is the blogosphere really just a platform for egoistic elitist computer users?

Media Gurus, this one is for you!

There

  1. Anonymous Anonymous | Thursday, May 18, 2006 7:31:00 pm |  

    Blogging evolves as a community. We build trust as we do in life through experience. It's when bloggers network with each other that it becomes interesting.

  2. Anonymous Anonymous | Tuesday, May 23, 2006 11:23:00 pm |  

    At last I am free to tell you all my friends about my wonderful news.
    Come visit my new site at WanderingScribe’s Journey for more details.
    Kindest Regards,
    WS