I’ve tried many things to deal with this, from turning comments on and off, blocking, turning moderation on and off… and just wondering if it is worth it. You can easily go back into the archives and see how vastly different the nature of the posts have become – as bloggers now limit to a great extent their sharing of their personal and work lives as a result of these actions, and I think that this change, which I certainly made myself, is a lost opportunity forever.

And, as you can see, I’m still just a bit sensitive on the topic!

Anyway, take care…

While we have often discussed the issue of Cilicia.com’s posts in the past, I wasn’t actually referring to it in the opening paragraph although I understand why you thought I was. Well, let me expand a little on that. I mean, I would guess that the statement would include Cilicia.com’s posts, although later that situation changed, but not only. There were other blogs or forum posts — by temporary visitors, expats etc — out there which fell into that trap.

So, in a sense, I guess I’m trying to say that in part I was, but not totally or specifically. Regardless, that’s not to say there is no place for them, but rather that’s all we got at the time. Of course, it is up to bloggers to write what they want, but I think it unfortunate that nothing else was discussed or written about. As there was little alternative information on the Internet at the same time, it was a lost opportunity.

Anyway, that later changed and Cilicia.com came more varied so even if you take it as criticism, that hasn’t been the case for some time. Moreover, in April 2004 you guys probably set a precedent by live blogging a major political event from the capital. To my recollection, that was the first time anything like that had been done.

Anyway, like I said, that situation has changed, but the fact is that there was very little other stuff of note on the Internet, especially in the realms of freedom of expression about the political and social situation in the country. Since 2007, however, that has drastically changed.

Ironically, the situation might now even have introduced new problems to blogging. Firstly, the political blogs have been too polarized and many at times intimidating and offensive which probably isn’t going to entice others to start blogging for fear of attack (as I was a few years ago for dealing with issues such as democracy and poverty when nobody else was).

On the other hand, the blogosphere is hardly balanced and as Azadakan says, what about other subject matters. In a sense, now Cilicia.com offers that balance although it’s been regrettably inactive of late, while others don’t. Probably because of all the hostility and politics, it’s time we all tried to be a little more varied in what we cover and to what extent.

Meanwhile, just to say that I met up with Observer (Artur) on Friday and he played me Myrthe’s interview from a blogging radio program for Internews. He said he wanted to interview you as the “father” of blogging from Armenia. I agreed. Even if we may have had our disagreements at the beginning, I do read Cilicia.com more now and also recognize that it was probably the first blog from Armenia.

Indeed, it was a blog before many people out there actually knew what one was. That was pretty good foresight and something to be acknowledged. So, to conclude, it is all subjective but I would prefer more variety, plurality and diversity in the blogosphere. At the beginning that wasn’t there and I personally wish it had been.

Ironically, now with one side of political bloggers making out that everything is bad in Armenia, perhaps I can see that such an approach to other aspects of life is necessary. Anyway, long and the short of it is that I hope that blogs can represent the entire reality and not just part of it. Interestingly, I felt as though Cilicia.com had started to do just that before the election and I was sorry to see that it later wasn’t so active.

However, given the extent of attacks on anyone who expressed their opinion during that period I can understand why and to be honest, think it was the right move. While I do believe the radical opposition did an amazing job of initiating an online campaign, the way they also used the Internet to attack and attempt to discredit others was very under-handed and quite regrettable.

So, apologies if you took offense to the opening paragraph. I guess we agree and disagree if that makes sense, but even if it doesn’t, it wasn’t meant to be a vindictive or hostile attack. I do, however, it was a valid point. Regardless, I hope Cilicia.com starts to become more active soon and we’ll certainly monitor and link to it.

Hi Onnik, Since your post starts off with what can only be a direct reference to the blogs on my site (Cilicia.com), I would like to point out yet again that these blogs were, in fact, the equivalent of “writing home” by these foreigners (Diasporans) who were sharing their lives and experiences, thoughts joys and frustrations with Diasporans back home. They never have pretended to be anything else – and while politics politics politics may be interesting to some, to others, they may be deathly boring and the experiences of moving to Armenia are fascinating. It’s all a matter of opinion. If you consider going out to eat at places like Marco Polo and Artbridge “the good life”, then I guess it was the good life. I am not sure if living in small apartments, with issues with water flows, heating, smokers, cops, living with few exceptions without a car, etc, etc is what most in the west would consider “the good life”, or why it would be referenced in a somewhat negative light, but anyway… just wanted to clarify what the blogs were, what they weren’t and what they never intended to be.

Don’t mean to or intend to start any back and forth – just wanted to expand on the background of the blogs in question, because the post seemed a bit judgmental when referring to them.

Thanks or the comment and I agree that there was a mix language-wise. However, that was tackled in the quotes above and in particular the extreme polarization and hostility shown in posts in Armenian and Russian. In a sense, it was all a propaganda mud-fight with no rules.

They do, however, still constitute a coming of age because as Artur, Kornelij and E-Channel explain, the number of new blogs appearing was huge. It’s also worth pointing out that the A1 Plus blog was in Armenian so I think in general, we can say the importance of blogs was there.

Their quality and worth in terms of opinions expressed, on the other hand, is subjective. However, it did reflect the climate at the time. As for your other point about subject matter, agreed. However, bear in mind that few people in Armenia knew what a blog was until recently, but now they do.

Therefore, I would expect others to view them as a medium for expression, but on many other issues rather than politics. On that, it could be Sirusho and Eurovision that set the precedent for that, but let’s see.

Anyway, just to say that as blogs were the only source of information from Armenia that wasn’t censored was quite something. They appeared on the map, let’s put it like that, and functioned when the media as a whole didn’t.

Regarding the blogosphere as a whole, I’d suggest clicking through to the E-Channel articles for more detailed information.

What is maybe missing is an account on the language mix of the blogs on Armenia. My impression is that the blogging that “came of age” was mainly in English, and to some extent in Russian. The blogs in Armenian were and remained marginal. I also felt that there was a certain correlation between the language and political stance; pro-radical opposition blogs were mostly in English and pro-establishment blogs in Russian.
Moreover, and strangely, the March events did not favor the emergence of blogs in French although the people, technical expertise, and potential audience exist. There was even a sharp decline – almost to the point of full silence – for almost 6 weeks following March 1 in all Internet-based political activity.

I hope that blogs on Armenia will diversify further in the future; not only language-wise but also theme-wise. As you show in your article, it is only political blogs that have developed in the past year. I may not be sufficiently informed but I haven’t noticed much development in blogging activities focused on sports, arts, the economy, etc. The political blogs treat of course other subjects from time to time but always from a political perspective which is rather limited/narrow.