|
 
|
Blogs are more popular in the Arab world
Middle Eastern blogs swept this year’s Deutsche Welle Best of Blog Awards, the world’s largest international blogger prize. The prizes, announced last week and set to be awarded in Germany in June, honour the best from over 18,000 weblogs, podcasts and videoblogs throughout the world, with prizes in 11 languages and 17 categories.
Middle East blogs won the popular vote in four of the six main “people’s choice awards”.
Jordanian blogger Osama Romoh, who blogs regularly about various social issues throughout the Middle East, took the people’s choice prize for the world’s best weblog.
“I was surprised when I first saw my name on the list, but I was much more surprised when I found myself having more than 80% of the votes,” he told The Media Line. “Then I realised I had a chance.”
“This is the first time in the history of the competition to have five Arabs win,” he said. “People in Arab countries really want to express themselves, and blogs are popular in Arab countries, so it’s not surprising that so many Arabs would win.”
Jordan’s Queen Rania Al Abdullah used her Twitter account to congratulate Romoh on the award. “So proud Jordanian blogger has won first prize in Bern Blogging competition,” she wrote. “Congrats Osama!”
“I was really shocked - I didn’t know that Queen Rania knows about my blog,” Romoh said. “That was really encouraging and I am so proud. It was huge.”
Romoh says he began blogging in 2008.
“I was bored, but then things changed,” he remembered. “I found readers interested in what I was writing so I decided to concentrate on local social issues that interest youth in Arab countries. We even managed to solve some problems, like university issues between the students and the minister of higher education.”
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=356646&version=1&template_id=46&parent_id=26 |
|
