Syria: First Bloggers’ Contest Winners Announced  · Global Voices
Anas Qtiesh

The first Syrian bloggers’ contest has come to an end. The contest was organized by the Syrian blog aggregator Al Mudawen [ar/en], where voters were asked to rate blogs competing in four categories: Ideal Blog, Best Content, Best Design, and Best Interactivity. The winning blogs first had to go through a rigorous process of public voting, then a panel evaluation.
Following are the winning blogs:
Many bloggers commended the initiative and hoped it becomes an annual event. However, a few of them expressed some criticism and frustrations, and offered suggestions to further develop the contest. 3abdulsalam, the winner of the Ideal Blog category said [ar]:
Omar Mushaweh, an administrator and a judge of the competition who also blogs at Al Marfaa [ar], commented about the difficulty of finding sponsors for the competition, the absence of participation on the side of English language blogs, and the complaints about the complication of the voting method used. He also criticized the absence of media coverage from outlets that usually cover similar social media initiatives hinting at Global Voices and Al Jazeera Talk[ar]:
He concluded with a call for cooperation saying: