Arabeyes: What Makes a Good Blog and a Good Doctor?

What makes a good blog and how do you assess blogs in your region?

Tunisian blogger Mouelhizied has attempts to answer this question and has a lot to say about his country's bloggers.

تقييمنا للمدونات عموما والمدونات التونسية خصوصا يبقى أولا وآخرا تقييما ذاتيا. مهما حاولنا طرق الموضوعية والعقلانية، يبقى التقييم مرتبطا برؤى واعتبارات شخصية ومعايير ذاتية. هذه مدونة نحترمها، أخرى نحبها، تلك نمر عليها مر الكرام ومدونة نشمئز حتى من قراءة اسمها. هذه حقيقة. وكما نفعله نحن مع بقية المدونات يتعامل غيرنا مع مدوناتنا بنفس الأسلوب أو أقبح أو اشد قبحا وسفها.
“Our assessment of blogs and especially Tunisian blogs remains a subjective issue, and a personal opinion at most. Even if we try objective and logical approaches, such an assessment will always have personal criteria. There are some blogs which we respect and others which we love; there are some we just skim as well as blogs which repel us by their names alone. This is the truth. And just as we deal in this manner with the rest of the blogs, others treat our blogs with the same mentality and perhaps in an uglier way,” he explains.

Although there are 361 Tunisian blogs according to the latest count, only 10 to 20 per cent of them are active and have daily posts, says Mouelhizied.

يمكنك قراءة كل المدونات التونسية في هذا المجمع يوميا. قد تأخذ قراءة المدونات المحيّنة سويعة أو أكثر.
هناك مدونون ومدونات في مستوى ممتاز يكتبون قليلا وفي قّلة كتاباتهم تعيش أحلى القراءات.
وهناك من يكتب أحيانا ولكنه يكتب بجدية وتحترم كتاباته.
وهناك من “يزنزن” بنفس الايقاع. نفس الروايات تقريبا حتى أنه بامكانك معرفة الموضوع والمحتوى دون داع لبذل جهد في القراءة والتفكير بمجرد رؤية التوقيع.
“You can read all the Tunisian blogs in the aggregator daily. Reading them all will take you about an hour or a little more. There are some bloggers and blogs which are exceptional in quality but whose posts are infrequent. However, it is in such sparse posts that you enjoy the best of your reading times. There are others who write more frequently but who also write seriously and who make you respect their writings. Other bloggers are the type who nag on the same point. They spin the same stories all the time to the extent that you can deduce the subject matter and the content of the post without taking the trouble of reading it – just by reading the blogger's name,” he notes.

From the different types of bloggers and blogs, we move on to learning how to spot the different types of doctors.

Egyptian blogger Ana Masri describes the different types of doctors out there.

هناك نوعان من الأطباء في مصر نوع تذهب إليه بمريض سرطان دم أو سرطان المخ شفي الله مرضنا وعفي عنا فيرد عليك قائلا انه لا خوف عليه هو سليم 100%
نوع أخر من الأطباء تذهب إليه بمريض يشتكي من مقدمات البرد فيقول لك انه لا حل انه لن يحيا أكثر من يومين
من تصدق؟ ولمن تصفق ؟ من تتبع؟
“There are two different types of doctors in Egypt. There is one type you go to suffering from Leukaemia or a brain tumour but would pat you on the back and tell you that you are fine and in 100 per cent good health and another type you go to complaining of the beginning of a cold, but would tell you that your condition is serious, there is no cure for you and you only have two days to live. Who would you believe? Who would you clap for? And whose instructions would you follow?” he asks.

In Palestine, blogger Majeed Al Barghouti links to a story I have seen before on Palestinian blogs, but which still seems to erk Palestinian bloggers. It is that which shows the Israeli army using Palestinian children as human shields, to protect them from the wrath of Palestinian stone-throwers.

الولد/الطفل الفلسطيني محمد بدوان 13 سنة، وضعه عسكر اسرائيل الأشاوس على مقدمة سيارتهم الجيب العسكرية، شدوا ذراعه الى حديد السيارة، ربطوها وساروا به ليكون درعا، ليحميهم من حجارة الاطفال والشباب الفلسطينيين. قال والده سعيد بدوان لمراسل الديلي ميل البريطانية، لما شفت الولد عقلي طار .. الولد كان يرتجف.
“The Palestinian child/boy Mohammed Badwan, 13, was put by the Israeli soldiers at the front of their military jeep vehicle. They tied his arm with metal and made him their human shield, to protect them from the stones of Palestinian children and youth. His father Saeed Badwan told the British Daily Mail correspondent that he almost lost his mind when he saw his son. The boy was shivering,” he explains.

Meanwhile in Kuwait, blogger Kila Matgoog apologises to his readers for not being able to reply to their comments because he is in Hong Kong, where he has to pay for his Internet use!

آسف يا أعزائي على عدم القدرة على الرد على التعليقات لأن الأنترنت هني بفلوس
و أدري أن ما يرضيكم أني أفسفس فلوسي على التعليقات
*
أنا الآن في هونج كونج و صراحة المكان جميل و يستحق الزيارة
*
“Sorry my dear readers for not being able to respond to your comments because using the Internet here costs money and I know you wouldn't want me to throw my money away on writing comments. I am now in Hong Kong and to be frank with you, it is a beautiful place very much worth visiting,” he writes.

1 comment

  • الاعزاء المحترمون
    تفضلوا بزيارة هذه المدونة الخاصة بالصومال
    اذا أردت أن تفهم ما يجرى وتكون على صلة مستمرة هذه محاولة
    متواضعة فى هذا الاطار

    Translation by Amira Al Huissani:

    Dear All, Please visit my blog which deals with Somalia. If you want to understand what is happening and remain updated with developments, this is a modest attempt by me.

    http://khaledmahmoued.blogspot.com/

Cancel this reply

Join the conversation -> khaled

Authors, please log in »

Guidelines

  • All comments are reviewed by a moderator. Do not submit your comment more than once or it may be identified as spam.
  • Please treat others with respect. Comments containing hate speech, obscenity, and personal attacks will not be approved.