Comments on: Bloggers should drive diversity? Why?

By: pauljacobson

pauljacobson — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 12:04:12 +0000

Thanks for raising this issue. Blogger diversity in SA is pretty complicated and will ultimately some down to people's willingness to participate,

By: joycloete

joycloete — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 01:22:56 +0000

I posted this comment on Heather Ford’s blog:

“I think I’m finally getting it. Black people have the opportunity [finally!] to become content producers. We can finally rewrite the negative stereotypes that exist. We can write our own stories. And we’re not doing it.

I do, however, think that the points you and David made do not take into account black people’s apathy. It exists. Not sure why but it does. Perhaps we should ask why black people are not blogging instead. And perhaps we should ask why black people are not attending these events. We should also ask why they use closed blogging platforms such as Bruin-ou.com instead of WP and Blogger.

Heather, I don’t think people from different social circles *will* interact. Or want to interact. Your thoughts on this?”

By: Heather Ford

Heather Ford — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 21:35:10 +0000

I agree with you that mutual respect is important here. I think David's post was intentionally provocative, and although we don't have to agree on the tone, I think it was positive because it got a few people thinking more critically about the impact that we as a community are having in our country. If we all agree that a more diverse blogging community is a good thing, then it seems that there is only disagreement on the 'how' and the 'who'?

By: Sunday Solutions

Sunday Solutions — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 21:38:59 +0000

Each has its own reasons why they blog. They are those who blog to make money online and those who wanted to share their crafts or ideas.

By: pauljacobson

pauljacobson — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 09:15:24 +0000

Hi Heather

Thanks for commenting. My argument against this "need" to connect outside our circles of contacts and friends isn't motivated by my sense of guilt because I don't have friends/contacts or follow bloggers/content creators outside my circle. It also isn't because I am opposed to any form of diversity either, I'm in favour of it. What I do object to is this sense of necessity and imposed responsibility to connect outside our circles. I object to the implication that bloggers who don't make an effort to follow (previously disadvantaged?) bloggers they ordinarily wouldn't have followed are racist and elitist. The implication is there in Sasaki's post (although I know that this isn't your intention at all).

I also feel that it is important to present another perspective here. People who feel they want to reach out are free to do so and should be respected for doing that. People who don't want to reach out and who prefer to stick to their circle or perhaps just be particularly selective about the information they take in (whatever the reason) should also be respected for doing so. It doesn't mean they are elitist or racist. It means they, like their more socially minded colleagues/friends, exercise their right to freedom of expression which includes the right to receive and impart ideas. It also means they exercise their right to make choices about who they associate with and who they prefer not to. This shouldn't be about imperatives and racially motivated choices. It should be about options for those who want to reach out and for those who don't and respect for both groups.

By: Heather Ford

Heather Ford — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 02:27:12 +0000

Thanks for the post, Paul. I think what both myself and David Sasaki are referring to is not so much that we need to bring new people on board (although I definitely think that the awesome work that Rising Voices is doing training young people in South Africa to use blogging as a method of self-expression is very important for the long-term development of the industry) but that we need to find better ways of connecting with people outside our social circle. If that's not something you feel you should/want to do, then that is really ok – but I think there are enough people who think that as a community we need to put some collective energy into encouraging more diversity and development. And I think that arguing against that is just wrong and unfair. For those who think that the South African blogging community needs no change and should be kept as it is, then that's fine, and there should be no guilt about that. But I don't think it is constructive to argue against such initiatives because you might feel guilty or threatened. That doesn't really make sense, does it?

By: pauljacobson

pauljacobson — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 10:06:16 +0000

Hi Johan, thanks for pitching in. It is really disappointing that 14 years after the first democratic elections and the dawn of a non-racial society, race and gender are as much a part of how we draw lines between us as ever before.

By: Johan

Johan — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 01:01:36 +0000

Very true my friend! The entry barriers to blog are the same for all of us…so very few could claim to be “disadvantaged” from having a blog. I would love to see how many of our younger generation from all races will take the opportunity to blog about social causes [road safety, aids, global warming, abuse etc]… and attempt to work towards addressing these issues…

Doing so has nothing to do with being elitist, or having the financial means – it is all about commitment , dedication and putting in some effort to achieve some higer purpose in the understanding that we do not live for ourselves alone! How many of these fortunate individuals will spend time on writing/blogging instead of enjoying the club scene?

perhaps it is time to stop “looking back” and rather “looking forward” [like some politician remarked earlier today!]

By: Johan

Johan — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 19:01:36 +0000

perhaps it is time to stop “looking back” and rather “looking forward” [like some politician remarked earlier today!]