Monday, February 20, 2006

Happy Birthday!

I just wanted to announce that today is this website’s first Birthday. Yup, this blog is officially a year old! When it actually dawned on me that we reached that milestone, I couldn’t believe it! I never thought we would last this long…. I never thought I could last that long! I have to extend my gratitude to all of the Lebanese bloggers, commenters and visitors for keeping this blog and the Lebanese Blogosphere alive. We have all taken part in creating something new… we have helped to enrich Lebanon’s presence on the World Wide Web, and created a new medium for Lebanese across the sectarian divides and from all over the world to communicate through. We have essentially created Lebanon’s little space in the World Wide Web.

The first bloggers I discovered that remain active today were Tony at Across the Bay, Mustapha at Beirut Spring, LP and CG at Lebanon Political Journal and the guys at The Lebanese Blogger Forum. Today the Blogosphere grows on an almost monthly basis.

Lots of blogs came and went, but some stayed with us. From Beirut to the Beltway, Letters Apart, Lebanonesque, Welcome to my Dream, Cedars Awakening and Ms. Levantine are all blogs that I discovered along the way and continue to visit as they post more entries. New blogs have also emerged more recently. Beirut Notes and Jamal’s Propagandas Site come to mind, so does the infamous ;-) French Eagle! The Lebanese Blogosphere has also been enriched with the words of foreign bloggers who share with us a passion for our country and region.

Stacey continues to provide us with her insightful entries; Michael Totten's blog is always a treat to visit, and Joshua Landis.... Ohhhh… Joshua Landis. Where would the Lebanese Blogosphere be without Joshua Landis??? the blogger who eventually turned himself into the Lebanese piñata, and at a certain point in time inspired around half of our entries (which were written in response to some of his provocative and, to put it mildly, pro-Bashar entries).

Partially thanks to this spur of activity in the Blogosphere, the World Wide Web now hosts new websites such as Ya Libnan and The Lebanese Lobby News Website. Ya Libnan started off as a blog and is now a full-fledged news website. The guys at the Lebanese Lobby also do a great job at keeping all of us informed about Lebanon and Lebanese who live and work abroad.

And finally, let me just say that nothing sustains the Lebanese Blogosphere like OpenLebanon.org. The website that does so much, and can do so much more!

Guys… let’s all keep this up! I look forward to more blogs and websites. Lebanon, with all its wonderful diversity and painful contradictions is finally exposing itself to the world through the World Wide Web. In this case, all I can say is the more the merrier… so bring ‘em on! :-)

4 comments:

AbdulKarim said...

Happy Birthday Lebanese Bloggers. Happy Birthaday Raja,Doha,et al...
Inshalla 3a 2bel il miyye :)

Thank you very much for all the posts during the past year that inspired my nationalism and kept it alive and burning in the cold English weather.

Your blog always gave hope in the darkest hours. Whenever I read the newspapers or watch the news, I feel frustrated and down. But then I get back to the Lebanese blogosphere and I find out that i'm not the only one and this gives comfort and condolence and hope.

Again, thank you very much.

Ms Levantine said...

Happy Bday LebaneseBloggers although I lost you for a while when you added an "s". Keep up the good work and the posts. Regarding OpenLebanon I totally agree with you, it is great and it could be bigger.
Thanks and looking forward for another great year.

Anonymous said...

happy bday ;)

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday. I believe your blog was the first Lebanese blog I visited!

speaking of blogs, mind my new URL. :) http://www.beirutbeltway.com

Thanks!