My friend, a certain Mr X, member of the diplomatic corps in New Delhi, asked if it makes any sense to engage bloggers in India. Mr X apparently is being prodded by the 'higher ups' in his country to reach out more to bloggers in India; and my friend believes it is important, but, not so important.
To my 'why' he gave an interesting insight.
Apparently, the free press (militant, vitriolic, opinionated and commercial) and proliferation of media in India makes it unnecessary, unimportant. It's unlike the Middle East where blogs are an outlet to discuss and debate in the absence of a free press. Blogs are influential in countries where there is no space for a public discourse. (?)
If we look at the Indian blogosphere there are indeed very few that are authoritative or 'referred to' blogs in the 'issues' space. For many Indian bloggers the interest areas range from personal hobbies, lifestyle and professional topics.
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Classification of blogs in India by www.indiblogger.in |
At the end of our chat I understood where Mr X was coming from. I promised to find him a few!
Suggestions/Critiques welcome.
-- Madhur
