Ok, I started blogging (I have seen at least three blogs starting with that line in the past month...including the wonderful Razan...maybe the Syrian blogosphere's coming of age...) two years ago today (almost). At that time, there were a handful of blogs. 10, 15 at most (correct me if I'm wrong).

The Syrian blogosphere was tiny. Ayman's Damascene Blog has got to be one of the first, and it was also a reference point. He listed all of the Syrian blogs. Getting a mention on there was a huge highlight of my first month's blogging.

But now, the blogosphere has it's own directory (right) listing at least 200 Syrian blogs and new sites are springing up all the time - and more often than not, they are great reads. I've spent most of the past fortnight stumbling across new blogs.

It seems many of my readers are themselves bloggers. Have a look in the comments section, click on the name, and you'll probably find a blog.

Blogging almost seems like our way of talking to eachother. The Syrian blogosphere is a stylishly designed forum to discuss the future of our country, and we all own a little part of that arena.

So techies...the tools we use to blog have got to adapt to that new reality. (And besides I think the Syria News Wire needs a birthday present). We need a site that can track all our comments around the blogs. So I can log on and see a list of comments I have left on other people's blogs - that way I'll be able to keep up to date with the replies. How easy is it to leave a message and forget to check for replies on someone else's site.

I know I should just give the site a present myself. But I am either too lazy or too cheap. It needs a new header, but my design skills can't compete with this



or this



can they (they're both Jordanian). Hmm.

Back to the real world. There are reasons why Syrians are blogging more and more - Syria has found place on the political map in the past couple of years (because of Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq), and internet access is becoming cheaper.

So happy birthday Syria News Wire: 2 years (and four days) old today! And long live the Syrian blogosphere.

Labels: Syrian blogosphere