Blogging - Good or Bad..
The recent revelation that the Syrian Lesbian Blogger who wrote that she had been kidnapped and abused by the authorities has turned out to be a hoax.
However, blogging has helped highlight the real plight of many and also opened a window into the lives of people/communities we would otherwise never interact with..
SO- Is blogging good or bad. Is there a danger that we are beginning to "believe all we read" ?
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Syrian lesbian blogger has been revealed to be Tom MacMaster, an American based in Scotland. Public domain
The mysterious identity of a young Arab lesbian blogger who was apparently kidnapped last week in Syria has been revealed conclusively to be a hoax. The blogs were written by not by a gay girl in Damascus, but a middle-aged American man based in Scotland.
Despite MacMaster's assertion "I do not believe that I have harmed anyone", activists were furious. Sami Hamwi, the pseudonym for the Damascus editor of GayMiddleEast.com, wrote: "To Mr MacMaster, I say shame on you!!! There are bloggers in Syria who are trying as hard as they can to report news and stories from the country. We have to deal with too many difficulties than you can imagine. What you have done has harmed many, put us all in danger, and made us worry about our LGBT activism. Add to that, that it might have caused doubts about the authenticity of our blogs, stories, and us.
"Your apology is not accepted, since I have myself started to investigate Amina's arrest. I could have put myself in a grave danger inquiring about a fictitious figure. Really … Shame on you!!!" "What a waste of time when we are trying so hard to get news out of Syria," another Damascus activist told the Guardian.
Source: Telegraph
I am a UK British citizen and would like to work in Qatar. I am a qualified family psychotherapist (MA level). I am also qualified as a social worker (MA level) and hold a BA First Class Hons degree in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Practice. Any leads, either private or public sector would be welcome. Many thanks. MLP
It is not just about bootcamp. The whole front page is a blog about training in the heat, diet etc. The back pages are about bootcamp
www.bootcampqatar.com
I don't read blogs on the whole - read the Lino Man blog as I had to - in order to comment.
If people want to blog - they should use their real name - keep it factual and tell the truth.
scientific research if sponsored by the self interest groups are the worst of the lot
yak! i HATE sports. every single night i try to find excuses so i can skip going to the gym (i paid a year cash in advance to motivate myself though). i still hate sports, gym or physical activity.
everything i read is suspicious untill proven otherwise. specially scientific writings.
Checked it, but its just about the Bootcamp :o(
Check out the new www.bootcampqatar.com blogsite. They post new articles every other day.
All health and fitness related, no politics
Brit...shhhhh keep quiet..will you?? lol
According to me..the blogs with more personal stories are more authentic.
s_isale, make an investigation and opt for the most plausible. It will depend much on your intellectual background and your experience. Mostly truth is simple but seldom ever seen.
how do we verify the facts Brit?
I read your blog last week - "The diary of a hot , hot girl in a hot, hot, sandy place with penguins" .. i believed every word.. ;o)
As you say, it is not easy to check the authencity of the blogger. The main point is - as LP mentioned - Blogging is now being used as a tool for disinformation also. So we should try and verify facts before believing..
Not all bloggers are telling the truth...some are writing for publicity. There are many who are very genuine and trying to bring out issues which are otherwise unknown to the world...specially in places in places like Iran, Iraq, Afghan etc.
Its not easy to check the authenticity of the blogger.
Wise written words indeed :o)
Generally bad, with traces of somewhat good ones when they only talk about food, lifestyle (exercises, make up, s*x, movies, etc), etc.
a good example here on QL, how some people believe in blogs...
http://www.qatarliving.com/node/1875898
Many believed he is Omani/Arab and believed what he wrote.
brit, media have a 'trustworthiness index'. TV with image and sound is rated as quite trustworthy, however, newspapers have a higher index. The magic of the written word still works. The problem is that most people are clueless, unable to inform themselves properly. And therefore they 'fall' for 'propaganda'. This also is known well and has been used since the beginning of civilization.
But Jules Verne's trip to the moon became reality!
Flying cars are still not commercially available and the matter/anti-matter dilithium propulsion unit is still on the drawing board..
My point was that - are we too eager to believe as total truth - all that we read ? If so, why ?
It is as good as Science Fiction. Some of it came true, didn't it?