And Your Bird Can Sing

It's been about a week since Il-Manoċċa was launched. So far so good. It looks like the sort of blog that's actually needed for the Maltese online media circus. I'm not a big fan of local politics but I can understand the interest it can generate, especially for anyone who feels that things can be better. Then again, things can always be better.

In an attempt to make things ever so slightly better, prolific blogger Sandro Vella has spearheaded a Blog of the Month initiative reminiscent of the Blogger's Carnival some old-timers may remember from a couple of years ago. By his own admission, this is a bold move, but as the Italian saying goes tentare non nuoce. You can now vote for your favourite Maltese blog here.

While it's good to see any sort of activity on the Maltese blogosphere, I disagree that this initiative should be promoted by any means necessary. That sort of thing can get great ideas killed. Never forget what happened to Malcolm X, even if this move is far less socially significant than the struggle that got him shot. There's no need to be paranoid...just don't sit with your back to the door.

Sandro is right to think that it's not enough to just blog about an idea. It needs to be spread. As I see it, the problem with spreading something that there's (relatively) so little of is that it can be spread too thin.

On a related note, I'm quite pleased to see MaltaGirl blogging fairly regularly again now that she's sort of settled into her new lifestyle. She's the undisputed queen of the Maltese blogosphere. I'm also very glad to see that a Ħsejjes 2 blog has emerged in recent days bringing back on of the Maltese bloggers' darlings; it doesn't get more real than Ħsejjes.

All this bodes well for the Maltese blogosphere, especially since its death knell was supposedly heard by many some time ago. To believe that the Maltese blogoshere is dead is to believe that Malta can ever be a participatory democracy where diverging opinions are given a significant voice to state their point of view as openly as possible.