Blogging: Can ICTs Really Make Free Speech a Reality in India?

In this article, Goa-based independent journalist Frederick Noronha traces patterns in the use of weblogs ("blogs") as a form of information technology (IT)-based communication in India. Noronha suggests that Indians have shown themselves to be adept at shaping technology (rather than simply applying it), and might thus be drawn to blogs for the degree of participation and freedom of expression that they enable. He claims that this form of communication has "the capability to empower the citizen, simply because entry barriers are so low, and it's easy to express oneself on them." He draws on the comments of London-based Neha Viswanathan (the South Asia editor of a USA-based blog-watch centre Global Voices), who, noting the potential for expression that blogging holds, explains that this medium is "bridging the divide between resident Indians and the diaspora. It is encouraging debates that are otherwise ignored by the mainstream media. Issues like gender rights, cultural minorities, syncreticism, sexuality, volunteering etc. are finding articulation."

Despite this great potential, Noronha suggests that blogs have a surprisingly low profile in India. He acknowledges that the word 'blog' has yet to be translated into any Indian language, and notes that there is little progress in developing blogs in Indian languages using the Devanagari script (Marathi, Hindi, etc) or in larger languages like Tamil. These blogs also have a long way to go in terms of reflecting the cultural and intellectual diversity of India. Perhaps due to such issues, India-related blogs - whether political, personal, cultural, topical, business-oriented, science, moblog (or, mobile blog), collaborative, eclectic, educational, directory-oriented, forum-style, etc. - are "largely invisible and go un-appreciated. Few talk about them, and there's little hype, probably because little commercial potential is seen..." In short, he suggests that, "India is hardly a nation of bloggers. For a country of a thousand million, we have just a minuscule number of blogs."

Just how many blogs are there in India? It is difficult to say, Noronha stresses, since there are no directories or comprehensive listings of blogs. However, to illustrate the low level of participation in this form of communication, he points to a January 2006 competition launched by Indibloggies for the best 'desi' blogs. Some 1278 people registered for the poll but only 892 actually cast their vote. Skeptical of the merits of the competition's winner, Noronha cites one response to the contest: "Its hardly a year..." However, the owner of one listing of Indian bloggers worldwide comments: "When I started blogging I could not find too many Indian bloggers. I started this list to keep track of the growing number of Indian bloggers worldwide. And boy, are they growing!" Another directory listed some 2195 blogs.

Reflecting on India's blogging history and shortcomings, Neha Viswanathan said in an email interview: "While India-based blogs have been around for some time, the notion of Indian blogosphere by itself is a new one. It's only in recent times - through the emergence of aggregators and sites like DesiPundit that the Indian Blogosphere is shaping an identity for itself." Vishwanathan does note, however, that blogging "holds great potential given that more blogs are emerging from smaller cities and languages other than English". She argues that the growth in the number of blogs has been almost viral in this part of the globe, even if most seem unaware of their presence. To cite one example of a type of blogging that seems to be growing, she points to group-blogs or colla-blogging as indicative of a shift towards topical blogs. "There's also the trend of small communities and frequent blogmeets. Business houses are adopting the medium of blogs, and the recently launched CNN-IBN also has blogs by journalists and quite an open policy about comments..."

In conclusion, Noronha observes that "Bloggers seem to be working in isolated islands, rather than building synergies with more traditional media. This probably results in bloggers 'talking to themselves'. Journalists, or a section of them, have taken to blogging; but are they largely attempting to impose their traditional forms of writing onto the blogsphere, or adapt to it? With many different newspapers and websites starting their own blogging platforms, India could well be fragmenting its bloggers....In a region where hierarchy and exclusion still matters, blogging is unlikely to make the headway it badly needs, unless it becomes a really inclusive movement."