[1]Advertisement for the Paraguay Blog Day. Image courtesy of Diadelblogpy.com.
Blogging isn't what it used to be, but there's still loads of content made by bloggers that finds its way onto the Internet today. In fact, tools like Medium have revitalized blogging, even as this form of writing has lost its novelty across the world. Another thing the Internet seems to have lost is the tradition of celebrating Blog Day [2], which technically occurs every August 31.
A group in Paraguay, however, is trying to bring back the bloggers’ holiday, planning an event in Asunción, Paraguay's capital. The festivities, which are free and open to the public, include several speakers and opportunities for Internet users to socialize and network offline.
According to the event's website [3], the celebration is about developing the local digital culture:
El Día del Blog Paraguay nació en el 2010 como un encuentro anual sobre cultura digital. Un espacio donde se discuten, [se] exponen y se comparten temas en torno a la blogósfera y la web social, con la finalidad de aportar a su desarrollo y evolución.
Paraguay Blog Day began in 2010 as an annual conference about digital culture. A space where matters regarding the blogosphere and social web are discussed, presented, and shared, in order to contribute to their development and evolution.
This year's event is expanding into new areas, as well:
Compartiremos sobre nuevos formatos para medios digitales y redes sociales, desarrollo de blogs con mirada global, derechos humanos e internet, y contenido multiplaforma.
We will share [information] about new formats for digital media and social networks, blog development from a global perspective, human rights and internet, and multi-platform content.
In order to learn a little more about this initiative, Global Voices spoke to one of its organizers, Osmar Alejandro Cáceres, an editor and blogger at Dementesx.com [4].
Global Voices (GV): What is the situation with blogs in Paraguay?
Osmar Cáceres: Si bien no existen aún anillos de blogs meramente paraguayos, es buena hora para que esto suceda. Existen blogs de toda índole: tecnología, derechos humanos, historia, cultura general, entretenimiento, literatura, turismo, ciencias, contenido viral, humor gráfico, comunicación, universitarios, emprendimiento, videojuegos, entre otros. [Estos blogs están alojados] en espacios propios montados en blogspot, medium, wordpress. También se ven blogs con presencia en los portales de los diarios digitales con mayor tráfico (que responden en su mayoría al poder de turno: [Como] los medios del presidente Horacio Cartes [5]).
Osmar Cáceres (OC): While there are still no networks of only Paraguayan blogs, it is a good time for it to happen. There are blogs of all kinds: technology, human rights, history, general culture, entertainment, literature, tourism, the sciences, viral content, graphic humor, communication, university, business, and video games, among others. [These blogs are housed] in their own spaces on Blogspot, Medium, WordPress. One also sees a blog presence on the digital newspaper websites with the highest traffic (responding mainly to those in power at a given moment [like] President Horacio Cartes’ [5] media).
GV: How are you financing this event? There might be other blogging fans in the region who would be interested in knowing your strategy, in order to organize their own events…
OC: El evento Día del Blog Paraguay está financiado a pulmón, sudor, y señal wifi de unos pocos que creemos que la información y el poder de las ideas puede cambiar la realidad, transformarla desde otros puntos de vista necesarios. No existe financiamiento desde el Estado, las empresas privadas que se suman van bajo trato de apoyo simbólico, que muchas veces no costea el evento (producción, merchandising, oradores, y más). Con todo eso, lo hacemos igual, de entrada gratuita. El evento anual de este año también se podrá seguir en streaming.
A los amigos y bloguers de la región un mensaje desde Asunción, Paraguay: Los blogs no están muertos y nunca lo estuvieron. Quienes pretenden desarrollar solo el ámbito financiero de la blogósfera mantienen este relato, mas la realidad dice otra cosa. Muchos espacios independientes siguen, otros cierran, pero se abren nuevos. Las estadísticas globales hablan por sí solas [6]*. Juntarse es más que necesario, salirse del cubículo y encontrarse con otros pares, desarrollar líneas de pensamiento, aportar nuestro gramo al desarrollo y evolución del ecosistema digital de Latinoamérica.
Por sobre todo, a bloguear, pasarla bien, y seguir compartiendo la cultura digital.
OC: Paraguay Blog Day is financed with a lot of blood, sweat, and WiFi signals from a few who believe that information and the power of ideas can change reality, transforming it through other needed viewpoints. There is no financing from the state, and the private companies that do join collaborate only symbolically—and at many stages the event is not funded (production, merchandising, speakers, and so on). With all of this, we still don't charge for admission. This year, you can also follow the event via live stream.
To friends and bloggers in the region, a message from Asunción, Paraguay: Blogs are not dead, and they never will be. Those who seek only to develop the financial atmosphere of the blogosphere maintain this narrative, but the reality says otherwise. Many independent spaces carry on, others close, but new ones are opened. The global statistics speak for themselves [6]. We need to join together, and leave our cubicles and meet other peers, developing lines of thought, investing everything we've got into the development and evolution of Latin America's digital ecosystem.
And above all, we must blog, have fun, and continue sharing the digital culture.