Kenya has third highest number of blogs in Africa
The last few years have seen rapid development in internet awareness and penetration.
A recent survey by the Communications Commission of Kenya put the number of internet users at 3.5 million.
As more Kenyans plug into the information super highway, blogs are emerging as a source of vital information.
Whether it is breaking news, analysis or commentary, blogs are increasingly commanding more authority as alternative sources of information.
The most pronounced blogging activity in Kenyan history was during the 2007/2008 post-election violence that marked a defining moment for the local blogosphere.
A blanket ban on live media coverage by the government at the height of the violence led to a gap in the information highway.
Kenyans in the diaspora sought to know what was happening back home and tired of the biased coverage in western media channels, they turned to the numerous blogs that were mushrooming in the Kenyan cyber space.
Unfettered by the media ban, the Kenyan blogosphere witnessed increased traffic like.
Moses Kemibaro is a technology blogger who has been blogging for the last three years at www.moseskemibaro.com.
He says that bloggers have grown to become a credible and influential group in Kenya.
“Through blogging and social media there is now a second force for media reporting’” he says. “It’s a whole new world and with over three million internet users in Kenya, bloggers are starting to influence mainstream content and opinions on topics ranging from politics, sports, technology and other areas.”
As if bearing testament to his assertion, the corporate world is starting to court popular bloggers in the Kenyan blogosphere.
