Omani Bloggers - Media Stars

Just read this article in today's paper. Thought of sharing it with you dear readers.
The bloggers interviewed in the article are OUTSTANDING. They are smart, expert, passionate, independent & talented.



Way to go fellow Omani Bloggers...Keep up the great job :D


For the love of change and blogging
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FOR a country at the crest of a huge transition Oman handles all that comes its way with quiet grace. Meeting challenges head on and learning from stumbles, the country is a very different one from what it used to be even 10 years ago. If you want proof of that look no further than your computer screen. Bloggers — writers, activists, humorists, the general social animal — have all found their freedom with the power of the word. Omani bloggers have set off a quiet, but insistent, wave of change.

Anonymity’s my friend

In a world where everyone’s hungering for their 15 minutes of fame, anonymity is tough to maintain. Especially when you are making a splash, not just a ripple. Most bloggers in Oman choose to remain anonymous for one reason: revealing their identity would limit their blogging topics.

“I started to write because I want to write a book. But in a couple of months Dhofari Gucci started gaining publicity and I knew I had a responsibility towards my readers,” says Nadia of the popular Dhofari Gucci (www.dhofarigucci.blogspot.com) who prefers being undercover because she wants to actually make a difference.

Reality in Oman, another woman blogger from Muscat (www.realityinoman.wordpress.com) is equally comfortable with being faceless. “My identity does not define my ideas. I find I have more freedom of expression in anonymity,” says this blogger who believes being anonymous also gives her freedom to “develop her ideas without people perceiving them as belonging to her family or friends”.

Undercover Dragon of Muscat Confidential (www.muscatconfidential.blogspot.com) agrees. He is fiercely protective of his identity and bravely goes where no blogger in Oman has gone before. On the surface, this blog by an expatriate (the jury is out on his nationality) looks like it exists to rake up controversy. On closer inspection — and with the help of a disclaimer — one sees it is done with a “sense of humour” and in compliance with all laws of Oman, apart from employing well-placed sources that are mostly accurate. Needless to say, he protects them with a ferocity that would make a mother proud.

Read the full article [here]