Some background…
When I began blogging in 2006, it was primarily and initially because of my frustration towards the Western media’s coverage of Darfur and Sudan. I wanted to do something rather than just bitch and whine.
I saw how the Egyptian and Iraqi blogospheres were influential and how they became a powerful voice for the voiceless, and I was quite jealous. Where were the Sudanese bloggers? Where was our blogosphere? It was nowhere to be found, and so I became a blogger. I blogged, I blogged and I blogged, and it was a lonely exercise.
Next, I tried to persuade online friends in Sudanese forums to join me in blogging and sharing their thoughts more publicly. I didn’t care about what they were going to say. I just wanted them to say something, anything, and it worked. By August 2007, things had changed, and there was a small but active Sudanese blogosphere speaking for itself.
My blog, which started out with around 20 hits a day, grew as well. At its peak during the Sudanese Teddy Bear Crisis, it was receiving nearly 10,000 hits a day. And the Sudanese blogosphere’s response made some difference in perceptions as indicated by the emails I received from British readers. Here’s a sample:
“Post teddy-bear fiasco, I had just decided that enough was enough and I would now have nothing but utter contempt for Islam and all Muslims. Then I read your blog—BRILLIANT. So OK, I’ll give you all another chance. I salute you—as long as there are such people as you there is hope.” – Ian, a British reader
Here’s another piece of feedback I received in response to another post:
“I really enjoy your blog. I like the way you tell it and it’s very refreshing to hear what’s going on in Sudan, unedited and from a non-US perspective…. Thanks for your time and for your true words.” – Jennifer, an American Darfur activist
Why am I sharing and telling you all this?
I don’t tell you about it to brag. I tell you about it to show you what’s possible in hopes that it may inspire you. Yes, some weird random bunch of ranting young Sudanese bloggers can make a difference.
Unfortunately, after a while the activity and socio-political commentary in the Sudanese blogosphere died down.
BUT… something cool happened recently…
The emergence of the Sudanese Twittersphere
Sudanese tweeps, let me first say that I love you guys. You’re undoubtedly some of the most brilliant, forward-thinking open-minded Sudanese I’ve ever come across, and I’m proud to know you.
I don’t know how we emerged, but it happened and we connected together, got to know one another and as a result enriched each others’ lives 140-characters at a time. More importantly, in recent weeks we’ve managed to get our voices heard and amplified in ways that are unprecedented.
From The Stream’s Sudan episode created in response to a critical post by @his_moezness to @elzubeir’s awesome #LoveFromSudan tweeted by Nicholas Kristof and published in the NY Times, we’re becoming a small but growing force for good… which brings me to the purpose of this blog post.
Unleashing our full potential
I don’t know about you, but with the bittersweet Independence of South Sudan, something in me has forever shifted. That’s it. I’m done just being mostly a blogger. It’s time to play a more proactive and strategic role.
I think I speak for most if not virtually all Sudanese tweeps when I highlight the following points:
- Generally speaking, western media coverage of Sudan is simplistic, biased and counter-productive. The narrative needs to change to reflect the realities.
- Sudan’s narrative in Western and American political discourse needs to change, and we can’t merely rely on our super cool diplomats to do the job. We can and should speak up for ourselves. We can and should engage in conversation with anyone willing to listen, and such people exist. For instance, I recently connected with @sam_a_bell, the former Executive Director of Save Darfur by accident on Twitter. And now in less than two weeks, I’m scheduled to meet him in person in Washington DC over tea for a friendly chat and debate.
- There’s so much injustice and suffering happening in Sudan that needs to be exposed and broadcasted to the world and framed with all the necessary nuances and important contextualization.
- We’re too dispersed right now, and lack coordination, let alone achievable goals and strategies. Heck, I bet there are so many pro-democracy Sudanese out there in the world who crave the kind of intelligent, informed and useful discussions we regularly have. (Some of these people are your friends. You know them. Bug them to join Twitter! Teach them. Give them a one-on-one new media “workshop” if needed.)
- We’re all talented and skilled unique individuals with something to contribute, so…
… @elzubeir and I recently got on Skype for a talk. It was very spontaneous. During our chat, we realized that we had overlapping plans for a project we’ve been thinking about, and which we decided to share with you so you can become a part of it. In fact, without your support, the project is not really even possible.
The Project
Imagine a hip, slick, youthful and well-designed Sudanese community portal modeled on the good aspects of Nawaat, Mideast Youth and Talk Morocco. On top of that, imagine an aggregator that curates and streams Sudanese tweets and blog posts, and even aggregates articles and content about Sudan. Imagine the impact such a project with these features can have.
For a long time, I’ve always envisioned the portal, and @elzubeir has envisioned the aggregater. What do you envision? What do you think? What do you like about the overall idea? What don’t you like? More importantly, what can you do or contribute to help turn it into a reality and something sustainable?
I know the founders of the three portals I pointed out, two of them personally, and we can learn from their experience. Elzubeir owns and runs his own damn PR company and online brand monitoring firm. A tweep like @simsimt has web development expertise. How about you? What can you bring to the table? And again, I repeat, what do you think?
Please first leave your elaborate thoughts in the comments section, and then let’s engage each other on Twitter using the hashtag #ProjectSTP, STP being an acronym for Sudanese Tweeps Potential!
Beace my beebull. One love.
- Amir
UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who commented below and to those who emailed me directly for sharing your frank thoughts about this project. After checking with a number of people, the domain name of the portal was picked. It’s going to be called www.VoicesOfSudan.com - Stay tuned for the launch!
Beace!
SudaneseThinker
SudaneseThinker
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
Back in 2007 we discussed such a portal on shamarat if you remember and started exchanging ideas until you disappeared
You’d be happy to know that work on Sudanblog.com is underway and if u’d like to join forces… u know how to reach me
Amru
Ha! Salam ya Amru. It’s been years ya zool! Glad to know you’re still lurking around.
The idea is to have not just one centralized platform with all the functionalities, but to have the blogging platform, and the aggregater, and other pieces all existing independently but executed in a collaborative complimentary way without overlaps so that we don’t end up replicating efforts. Hope that makes sense.
I’ll shoot you an email, but for now, let’s get all the input we can from Sudanese tweeps and bloggers.
Also, I’m not sure curating Sudanese blogs alone is a good idea. The output isn’t much anyway. Twitter on the other hand is different. Anyways, let’s see what others think.
Brilliant idea.There are many Sudanese forums but scattrred & not organized .I think twitter is effective tool to alert people towards certain cause .It is just a step that we hope could lead us to a better future.
You didn’t want to brag, but to me you are the best blogger I’ve found blogging out from an African context, which in fact says a lot. I wish you success on your project, and that book looks interesting.
One question though: Have you made an agenda on the emerging South Sudan or will that be off topic for your blog from now on?
Salam Dirma…
We are talking about the same thing and we talked about it in detail a long time ago but that doesn’t matter… what matters is, this is an excellent initiative, requires a lot of work and long overdue.
…to add to what your saying a blogging platform is actually not that important at all, what is much more needed is an aggregater for two main purposes:
- Provide more exposure to bloggers and their blogs by providing them with a centralized outlet for ease of access and discovery by users
- Motivate others to take on blogging as it is not that different from existing online forums and an aggregater will make this more evident
…Sudanblog is taking a portal/aggregater approach…
…will be waiting for your email.
Amru
I’m out of ideas, out of stuff to share right now but i do like the overall idea ..the idea of taking action and making somthing positive and the ambition of present a media of a value and strong message to the whole universe .. Thumbs up and wishing us always-always the best luck!
I like the idea, and I do believe that we (the youth) need to get even more involved politically and to learn to raise up our voices, some of us r simple to the point of not acknowledging their basic rights, 3shan kida we need such a project to wake ppl up, I definitely want to participate and be part of this awesome project
but how is the question ,i will try to get some ideas and let u guys knw 
do it.
In phase 1, its best to unite and publicize this forum.
Is there no Sudanese center that scans all newspapers?
Also, invite high profile and low-profile marginalized Sudanese to submit simple reports that inform the diaspora on N.C.P domestic transgressions and human rights violations. Encourage the diaspora Sudanese dual-passport holders to OnDemand lobby Congressmen or local Parliamentarians when domestic Sudanese are arrested, tortured, abused, or feel coerced. Contact with local media is also important.
Hi… I’m not exactly active in the blogging and/or twitter worlds. However, I have the same objectives and I’m trying to achieve them via media productions; be it documentaries, cartoons, books, art events or otherwise. These productions are done by various talented volunteers and they are aimed at raising awareness, improving Sudan’s image internally and externally, raising the standards bar, creating a market, providing a platform to showcase those talents, etc..
We are aligned in terms of the combating western media’s portrayal, and that is the core of what we’re all about at almawja. Just thought I’d share and if there’s any capacity where I can be of use to this project, I’m in.
As I Said Before I am Extremely enthusiastic about the Idea, Changing The narrative about Sudan(& Africa) in The Western World especially the US is at the most important now ,We should also Focus in Sudan youth & help spread of Social media as you tried before but in a wider bigger scale ,I Believe in Starting Small & Dreaming Big, A small idea like this can change our Sudan to the best,,its not really that Hard once we let our talented wonderful youth reach their Potential then Truly Possibilities are endless,I realize I didn’t add anything significantly new ,but as we get into the details , i am sure everyone will have more to contribute ,At the End Salute to You , @elzubeir & all the wonderful Sudanese Tweeps Who give me Hope in this Dark times.
Apologies for taking so long to comment.. but as always, better late than never.
My conversation with Amir has been about consolidating all the different but similar online activities. What is presented here is a part of an overall strategy to take back the narrative on Sudan and in return affect positive change.
I think the best example is indeed nawaat.org, which is closest to what Amir has in mind (and I agree on that). I see there are several forums out there with varying degrees of activities. I would prefer if we take advantage of the existing traffic going there and adopt one.
For example, sudaneseonline.com appears to be for sale. Shamarat.net is a forum — hello 1990? I know Amir is looking for a ‘cool’ name, but I am more concerned with initial traffic. I do like Shamarat.net as a domain name — I don’t care for the forums format though.
The project would be responsible for creating original content in addition to aggregating and commenting on external content. Content aggregation and media monitoring is an area that I can be of assistance in.
I have been monitoring all mentions of Sudan in regional (Middle East) newspapers and magazines since June 2009, so a little over 2 years now. I have mentions classified and archived with scans of every article found. I will make this content publicly available under SudanWatch.com, combining with it online content that covers the Internet. This allows people involved in creating new content (whether they are in the form of blog posts, videos, caricatures, etc) to have instant access to what is being said about Sudan and by who.. with statistical analysis as well.
That is what Amir means by different projects complimenting one another. I will be elaborating on what my overall vision is in an upcoming post (I need a breather, professional life calleth :).. ).
But enough with the big and lofty ideas. Time to get to the practical bits of this. What is needed RIGHT now is the following:
1. Agreeing on a name for this ‘portal’. Again, see nawaat.org for inspiration. (my vote is on Shamarat and shamarat.net joining the fold). Forums are dead.
2. Web developers needed to volunteer their services. Someone’s gotta do the work of putting the software together
I don’t want to keep the list long. Let’s get things started with small actionable items. Go! Go! Go!
One question for you all: define “young”.
How about the over 30 crowd of Sudanese that have an online journalistic presence?
I wish you luck .. Our need for change and the change may have come from outside or inside never know, as we have seen in previous adapters from the inside went so badly, our Owen people began to lose hope and this is not good. this project got something new i don’t know exactly what it is but I’m optimistic about it. again good luck for all of us and PEACE.
Hana,
Yeah, I’m not a fan of the words ‘young’ and ‘youth’, etc. as it excludes and alienates people unnecessarily. I think the meaning is ‘not the older generation’..
30 is the new 20, Jay Z said so
Might be a little late to the game here but let me congratulate you on the progress you have made thus far. I am particularly impressed by the spirit of collaboration across borders to put this together.
This is an admirable project that can address a catalogue of issues and frustrations that many Sudanese (young and old) have. Having said that, it is easy to get overly excited and I would suggest maintaining a laser-like focus on the primary objectives of the portal in its initial stage.
To me there seems to two overlapping objectives that have been mentioned above:
1. Promote Sudanese content and views to a wider audience
2. Enable discussion amongst the Sudanese community on issues that matter to us
I would like to suggest a third - To enable the Sudanese to ‘network’ and get to know each other. Here in the UK we have a facebook group (SPUK) designed to get Sudanese professionals to meet and socialise on a regular basis. We have recently had a picnic in the park and an iftar that attracted people from inside and outside London. I have seen a number of tweetups being organised in Khartoum and Dubai - the more the merrier I say. I think this could be facilitated through the portal and hopefully we get more projects similar to yours spring up from the connections made at these events.
I hope this project is still live and you have moved on from deciding on objectives. I would love to get an update and stand ready to help in any way I can.
Many thanks,
@aelmahi
Hi guys, I thought I had left a comment replying already, but it looks like I didn’t. Maybe I accidentally deleted what I said along with the annoying spam comments that get posted sometimes.
Anyways, I just got back from Tunisia where I attended the 3rd Arab Bloggers Meeting. I managed to learn some cool stuff from the guys behind successful online community portals like Nawaat and Talk Morocco amongst others. We, Sudanese netizens, have a lot to catch up on and do, but it’s never too late.
There’s already some great activity on Facebook and Twitter as you all know, and part of the mission should be to make that content more public to the world.
Stay tuned for more details. #ProjectSTIP *is* moving forward and in fact, I’ve already purchased and decided the domain name after checking with some people.
The portal will be called Voices of Sudan, and it will be available at http://www.VoicesOfSudan.com once it launches in English and Arabic.
As the name indicates, the key idea is to give a voice to the voiceless, but to do it in a strategic focused way that’s intelligent, influential and has impact. More later.
I’m only seeing this now, however I must say I’m impressed with the idea. The project seems like it may encourage the Sudanese youth to voice their opinions and openly express their views and thoughts with the outside world.
FB/Twitter and other social media can only do so much; but uniting the voices of Sudanese youths from all over the world though such an initiative will certainly mark a huge impact.
The concept is beautiful and it also sounds like a great way to network. And you know us Sudanese, we’re crazy about networking; it’s in our blood.
Best of luck.
Mimz
Thanks for the comment and support Mimz. You’re one of the people I’ll be counting on to submit some occasional articles and spread the word to others.
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