Blogs as Bridges

On the third day of Votes, Bits & Bytes, several discussions are tackling blogs and their role in politics, culture, and international discourse. Global Voices, Blogging as Bridges, is one track of the conference focused on international blogs. Hossein Derakhshan, aka Hoder, the well known Iranian blogger, joined Ory Okolloh, Harvard Law School student and author of Kenyan Pundit, and Isaac Mao, a Chinese blogger. The three offered perspectives on blogging communities in their own countries. Both Okolloh and Hoder agreed that one key to promoting blogging in their countries depends on having a local celebrity involved. Mao described the both difficulty of language barriers in Chinese blogging and the technical barriers of the Chinese Firewall. As Hoder explained, blogs aren't the goal -- they're the tool. "I myself want to be the bridge," Mao said.