The Lebanese Blogosphere

It is good to be blogging about language and teaching. A University of Westminster PhD dissertation by Maha Taki analyzing blogging in Lebanon shows that some Lebanese had started blogging by 2004. However, by 2008 at least, it appears there were no identifiable bloggers focused on either teaching or language ("Bloggers and the Blogosphere in Lebanon & Syria: Meanings and Activities"). Most of the early blogs, Taki reports, were political, triggered by the assassination of our Prime Minister in 2005 and the 2006 summer war in Lebanon. Here are the topics the Lebanese blogged about in 2008, based on Taki’s survey back then, in order of frequency:

• Activities, private thoughts and reflections
• Poetry, literature and art
• Social issues in country of origin
• Political issues in country of origin
• Local current affairs
• Religious and spiritual matters
• Human rights issues or development
• International political issues

Unfortunately, the early blogs, as reported by Taki, reflected the political divisions in the country. Many did not sound neutral. Also, there were more male than female bloggers, and the age distribution was mainly concentrated in the 20s and 30s. The vast majority of bloggers had university degrees, including a high proportion of postgraduate qualifications. Interestingly, nearly half the Lebanon bloggers had had some university education outside Lebanon, and the majority were single.

One hopes that blogs are now more inclusive in terms of who is blogging, what for, and what topics they tackle. Still, the microblogging site Twitter does not provide a topic category for teachers/teaching or education when one first registers one's profile, nor do some blog aggregators like a Lebanese one that currently exists. This would force teachers, initially at least, to identify their blogs under titles such as “lifestyle”, “personal/reflections”, etc., which may not be enough to distinguish the blogs. Tagging and hashtags for teaching etc. can help of course, but the options given upon registration reflect an older mentality where certain categories did not really exist on their own.

Teacher bloggers need to get their voices across as teachers. In any case, it is good to be part of a community of bloggers united by common interests and concerns.