Step of hope ..............
After the past year’s social media revolution, Iraqi’s were eager
to join in the discussion through blogs, Facebook and twitter.
Last week, in Sulaymaniyah,
this culminated in the first conference for Iraqi bloggers. The idea was
simple: gather 60 bloggers from all over Iraq to discuss the most important
topics such as how to develop blogging nationwide, workshops on IT, internet
security and the
new Iraq Computer Crimes law, the merging of blogs with Facebook
and twitter, and creating mobile advocacy campaigns. The result was
extraordinary, as my fellow bloggers impressed me with their excitement and
conviction that we truly were blogging for the future.”
The idea for the conference first emerged from the social
turmoil of late 2010 and early 2011 that resulted in demonstrations throughout
Iraq. While one image was being presented in the media, technology allowed
citizen journalists and civil society activists to also share their views and
agendas. We created communities through Facebook and blogs to update each other
and share our opinions.
At this same time, IMS (International Media Support) reached
out to the Iraqi blogging community to offer technical advice on how to expand
and develop an online movement of citizen journalists in Iraq. In May 2011,
they held a meeting in Sulaymaniyah to discuss needs, and we had further
training on social media in July 2011. I was lucky to be a participant in these
events and to share my ideas for reaching out to fellow Iraqis.
As an IT specialist with Mercy Corps, this conference was a
dream come true. I met new people from all over Iraq that shared the same
interests and hopes for a better future through technology. Many of these have
turned out to be great friends! The internet is a new frontier in Iraq, and it
is helpful to have the shared knowledge and experience as we navigate the
changing political environment. For right now, we are all pitching in and
sharing what we know while filling gaps along the way – small steps, but
important steps. We hope to continue our progress through the bloggers network
(Iraq Network for Social Media), and further conferences and trainings.
Taif Khudair
Basra
Feb. 2012
Language editing: Brenna Carmody.
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