Here is a list of ten blogs that I think one should read in order to get a sense of the Saudi blogosphere and feel the real pulse of streets in the country. This is strictly my opinion; if you think there are other blogs that should have been included in the list please do leave a comment or, even better, you can make up your own list and post it on your blog. Note: blogs from 1-5 are in Arabic, while those from 6-10 are in English, however, the list is absolutely in no particular order.
1. Heaven's Steps: Hadeel al-Hodhaif is one of the few (the only?) Saudi female bloggers to use her real name online. Her blog was mentioned on several big websites such as BBC Arabic, and she was interviewed on Al Jazeera. Earlier this year, Hadeel was invited to speak at a media conference in Oman, where she talked about her experience in the Saudi blogosphere.
2. Mashi97: Khaled al-Nassir's frankness and courage have gained him popularity in a short time, but also cost him a temporary brief absence after writing some fierce posts a few weeks ago. Fortunately, he is back now, with a much cooler head :-)
3. A Tribe Called Sarah: This blog, written by a student studying in Bahrain, is a homogeneous mixture of love, poetry, and humor. Many readers feels that Sarah's memoir-style blog is some kind of a novel in the making.
4. MagicKingdom: Mohammed's blog does not only ask good questions and start interesting conversations, but also offers a much needed view on the scene of culture and arts in the country.
5. Entropy.MAX: Entropy has been blogging for only few months, but over that short time she has proved what an outspoken, articulate blogger she is. It is not only about the issues she touches on, but also in the way she explores the different sides of these issues.
6. SaudiSphere: Aya is a young Saudi woman blogging from New York City, and her critical, angry blog is one of most interesting blogs written by Saudis who live abroad. One thing you would find on this blog that you can't find anywhere else in the local blogosphere is Aya's occasional selections of cartoons from newspapers all around the world.
7. Annals of a Space Cowboy: The name says it all? Nah! In this blog, Fahad al-Butairi, aka Fedo, a student at the University of Texas, comments on news and posts some interesting YouTube videos. He is also a contributer to Global Voices, covering the Saudi blogosphere on semi-weekly basis.
8. An Englishman in Saudi Arabia: I wrote about this blog for the first time in last December, and now he is back after some hiatus. This British blogger moved to Riyadh a while ago, and started this blog to record his adventures with tailgaters on our streets and ninjas in our shopping malls. Quite amusing.
9. Crossroads Arabia: It is not the only Saudi blog written by non-Saudi, but definitely the best one in this category. Blogger John Burgess is a former US foreign service officer who has had two tours in Saudi Arabia. He describes his work as an effort to put the country into context, and his experience makes this blog one of the invaluable sources about Saudi Arabia on the web.
10. Rasheed's World: Rasheed Abul-Samh is a Saudi-American journalist. He is a senior editor at Arab News, and also reports for Christian Science Monitor and the New York Times. His ability to bring us the-story-behind-the-story is what makes his blog stands out.
Honorable mentions: There is alsoa few many Saudi blogs that I consider worth reading. Here's some of them. In English: American_Bedu, S as in Saudi, and Kingdom of Lunacy. In Arabic: Bandar, OS X Arabia, Arab Tech Channel vlog!, and Prometheus. # »
1. Heaven's Steps: Hadeel al-Hodhaif is one of the few (the only?) Saudi female bloggers to use her real name online. Her blog was mentioned on several big websites such as BBC Arabic, and she was interviewed on Al Jazeera. Earlier this year, Hadeel was invited to speak at a media conference in Oman, where she talked about her experience in the Saudi blogosphere.
2. Mashi97: Khaled al-Nassir's frankness and courage have gained him popularity in a short time, but also cost him a temporary brief absence after writing some fierce posts a few weeks ago. Fortunately, he is back now, with a much cooler head :-)
3. A Tribe Called Sarah: This blog, written by a student studying in Bahrain, is a homogeneous mixture of love, poetry, and humor. Many readers feels that Sarah's memoir-style blog is some kind of a novel in the making.
4. MagicKingdom: Mohammed's blog does not only ask good questions and start interesting conversations, but also offers a much needed view on the scene of culture and arts in the country.
5. Entropy.MAX: Entropy has been blogging for only few months, but over that short time she has proved what an outspoken, articulate blogger she is. It is not only about the issues she touches on, but also in the way she explores the different sides of these issues.
6. SaudiSphere: Aya is a young Saudi woman blogging from New York City, and her critical, angry blog is one of most interesting blogs written by Saudis who live abroad. One thing you would find on this blog that you can't find anywhere else in the local blogosphere is Aya's occasional selections of cartoons from newspapers all around the world.
7. Annals of a Space Cowboy: The name says it all? Nah! In this blog, Fahad al-Butairi, aka Fedo, a student at the University of Texas, comments on news and posts some interesting YouTube videos. He is also a contributer to Global Voices, covering the Saudi blogosphere on semi-weekly basis.
8. An Englishman in Saudi Arabia: I wrote about this blog for the first time in last December, and now he is back after some hiatus. This British blogger moved to Riyadh a while ago, and started this blog to record his adventures with tailgaters on our streets and ninjas in our shopping malls. Quite amusing.
9. Crossroads Arabia: It is not the only Saudi blog written by non-Saudi, but definitely the best one in this category. Blogger John Burgess is a former US foreign service officer who has had two tours in Saudi Arabia. He describes his work as an effort to put the country into context, and his experience makes this blog one of the invaluable sources about Saudi Arabia on the web.
10. Rasheed's World: Rasheed Abul-Samh is a Saudi-American journalist. He is a senior editor at Arab News, and also reports for Christian Science Monitor and the New York Times. His ability to bring us the-story-behind-the-story is what makes his blog stands out.
Honorable mentions: There is also
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