“Online activists are overrated”

Syrian blogger Razan Ghazzawi on why bloggers get invited to conferences:

The so-called “Arab Spring” is getting a lot of NGOs rich, and these NGOs must get “involved” in the revolutions that have swept the Arab-speaking region in 2011. Conferences love bloggers the most. The world still assumes that the revolution in Egypt was made by bloggers, and hence bloggers in Arab-speaking countries must be invited, because they must have some interesting role in their country, and not to mention how journalism always create “heroes” in every “crisis,” the Hollywood-style […]

So why then did she agree to join us in the Arab Bloggers Meeting in Tunisia?

Conferences give you a free ticket, food and a free bed

I agree. I would be lying if I said most of us — present company included — didn’t go for precisely that reason. It’s not about being cynical; anyone would be an idiot for passing up on a chance for a free vacation. But I think Razan (whom I got the pleasure of meeting in Tunisia) understates the value of relationships that can come out of such conferences. I don’t care what NGOs get out of gathering us in the same place, but I do care about the fact that I got to meet very interesting activists from all parts of the Arab world.

Razan is right. Online activists are not heroes. Indeed, they aren’t as influential as they are made up to be (starting a low-brow sex gossip website in Arabic would probably get me much more readers than Beirut Spring), but they are nonetheless individuals who care deeply about their respective countries and — like us — are always thinking about how to make their homelands better places. They are all people we can learn a lot from.

I know much more about Sudan because I met Amir, and more about Oman because I met Riyadh. Ahmed gives fantastic insight on Saudi Arabia, so does Manal and Alaa on Egypt, Ghazi on Libya, Sami on Tunisia, Nasser on Mauritania and countless others on their countries.

Yes, NGOs are getting a raw deal out of sending hundreds of activists to a talking shop in a 5 star hotel in a beautiful country. But the value we are getting individually and collectively as bloggers far exceeds the “free ticket, food and free bed”.