Not a Patch on China
Some time ago a good friend of mine – experienced Chinese blogger Isaac Mao – told me that according to the recent data there were 19.87 MLN bloggers in China, and in total there were more than 50 MLN blogs in Chinese. To compare: the population of Kazakhstan makes 15.3 MLN people. In other words, the number of bloggers in China is higher than the entire population of Kazakhstan by 4.57 MLN people. So even if all people in Kazakhstan – including the old in godforsaken villages and infants – became bloggers, we would not a patch on China.
Naturally, it’s not the way to compare. However, making the “right” comparison – it means doing it in percentage – it proves that every 65th person in China is a blogger. Theoretically, at the same “correlation of forces”, 235.4 thousand bloggers should live in Kazakhstan. This number is totally unreal, as there are only 3540 blogs registered in Kazakhstan. Another demonstration of it is that there are only 264 entries in the section “Kazakhstan” at a well-known Global Voices Online, and I have counted only three names on the first page of the section.
The question why people in Kazakhstan are so “inactive” is still open for discussion. Some say it’s because of the expensive traffic, some name the low development of ICT in the country, some keep saying people in Kazakhstan simply cannot work with a computer and all the more in the Internet. There is no doubt many people in Kazakhstan still do not know well what blogging, or to put it differently, is about. However, I think one should consider among other reasons the insufficient development of the civil awareness and the absence of an active civil and even life position of my countrymen. In my opinion, this is the major reason why so far Kazakhstan’s blogging community could be called a “cosy little gathering” of confederates.
on February 1st, 2007 at 11:24 am
When I told Irene the number of bloggers in China, I didn’t mention that it’s the result under 5 years of development after “Weblog” was first introduced by cnblog.org, a non-profit knowledge site, at 2002. So I strongly believe that there will be a similar boom in KZ blogosphere soon with the effort of your pioneer bloggers. The absolute number is not important, but the relative percentage and impact someday.
on February 1st, 2007 at 11:41 am
I cannot agree. I believe blogging could have begun developing in Kazakhstan at the same time it did in other countries - there is no need for exisiting a special device - but for a computer, Internet and any blogging platform - to become a blogger and be actively involved in what is going on around you. 5 years ago many people in Kazakhstan had already had an e-mail account. To start your blog is as easy as to get an e-mail account.
on February 1st, 2007 at 12:31 pm
well, Irene, I’m not so pessimistic on KZ blogosphere since it’s the developing country on Internet. We should understand that the core value of Internet is to share, link and creation. Email is very early application only supports personal communication and now it evolves to public space to share your thoughts and ideas with people from all around the world. It’s disruptive that nobody can escape from that, whether a blogger or not-yet blogger(will become reader of blog unavoidable). The problem is we need a tipping point(a critical mass of number) to see it happens in KZ, as well other countries. Trust me, there were many people questioned my prediction on Chinese blogosphere years ago.
on February 1st, 2007 at 4:09 pm
I do agree that “the online history” of Kazakhstan is very young and modest, so it would be illogical to expect it to achieve the same level of development as it is in other, more IT-developed, countries. However, I regard people’s active life position and their willing (including to share, link, communicate and draw attention) as the crucial factor whenever we talk about any initiatives and chances to state one’s point of view.
on February 2nd, 2007 at 2:08 am
Isaac, good to see you here! I hope that there will be a tipping point one day. Although, looking back, 2006 has been a fairly good year with regards to new blogs from Kazakhstan.
on February 2nd, 2007 at 7:50 am
Ben, comparing it to 2005, it was a real boom.
However, some people in the USA predict the end of the blogging boom in 2007 (http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/ideas/bal-id.blog31dec31,0,6234140.column). Aren’t we a bit too late here?
on February 2nd, 2007 at 10:55 am
Don’t take that report for more than what it’s worth. I think he’s saying a few things that don’t mean too much for places like Kazakhstan.
First, he says that the growth is leveling off. I am not too shocked. “Real” growth was never as high as it seemed considering how many people don’t stick with blogging once they start. I think some people — especially those who used blogs as a journal or diary of sorts — might not be starting in the first place and instead turning to social networking sites (some of which have basic blogging tools built in).
Second, the novelty is wearing off. Blogging has been around a while now, and it’s proven its mettle and its limitations. It isn’t so exotic anymore, and our (American) fickle media won’t go slumming it so much as they used to. (They won’t be treating it like slumming it, anyway.)
Personal publishing and the blog format of doing so will carry on, and there’s no reason why it still can’t catch on in Kazakhstan. It’s important to remember how different parts of the world develop certain types of preferences for certain tools on the net. The Russosphere loves LiveJournal. Apparently there’s a social networking site that only ever caught on in Brazil, where it’s huge. I would never have expected Kazakhstan’s online community to develop too much like the West’s, and I think that personal publishing will continue to catch on as it has in 2006.
on February 2nd, 2007 at 1:25 pm
I think Nathan is on the right track. We can’t assume that just because something exists it will catch on, or even that it should catch on. One possible factor: If you look at commentary on news sites–gazeta.kz or zonak.kz, 90% of comments are anonymous. Possibly people are afraid of being arrested or fired for criticizing or joking about the powers that be (the content of some comments shows that the commentors are people in power). Other people may feel they have no right to comment on news or politics. Possibly people feel the official news reports exist. Also, many people assume all forms of news are biased and reading a blog where the bias may be unclear–especially if the blog is anonymous–may make them distrust everything. I can’t speak to China, but in general compared to the US where blogging thrives, it seems to me Kazakhstani are less willing to be outspoken (out of fear or shyness), and possibly less interested in having their comments reach a huge anonymous audience, two key factors in blogging. Some other forms of web or tech usage will likely take off in KZ–text messaging is way more popular here, for example.
on February 2nd, 2007 at 1:28 pm
My point is the following: development of blogosphere in Kazakhstan will catch on this year (especially whe one knows how many activities are planned in order to promote it. And there are quite many people - mostly not journos- who (I am sure!) will make great bloggers as they have got what to say.
- it was about the report.
However, one cannot absolutely ignore the global tendencies
on February 5th, 2007 at 8:18 am
Hi ben and Nathan, I was on skype to talk with Irene on that. Happy to see you here.