Ugly face of Malayalam blogging - Threats, harassment and blogger gangs
March 19th, 2007
It all started with the Yahoo copyright issue where a number of Malayalam blog posts were copied by Webdunia content team and it appeared on the Yahoo’s Malayalam portal. When this issue was reported, Yahoo promptly removed the content.
But Malayalam bloggers were not satisfied with this. They wanted a formal apology from Yahoo. Hence there was campaign lead by Malayalam blogs and finally Yahoo apologized to the blogger.
Now things should have gone back to normal. But it didn’t. Some guys wanted Yahoo to stop all business dealings with Webdunia!
In the meantime, fights between Malayalam bloggers started to explode and Yahoo controversy flamed it. It reached to a stage that somebody had sent an anonymous mail to the office (his boss I think) of a Malayalam blogger (nickname - “lonappan”), alleging defamation and harassment. As per reports, this guy got reprimanded at work and he ended up deleting his blog!
Now in a recent event, another blogger (nickname “chitrakaran”) alleges that his family was harassed over phone (I am not sure whether this is true). Update:This post was deleted by the author.
This sort of harassment and fights is unique to Malayalam blogsphere! Interestingly half of the blog posts made by top Malayalam bloggers now deal with controversies/fights between bloggers.
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March 20th, 2007 at 12:22 am
You got to remember this is malayalies we are talking about. I would expect a lot worse from us.
March 20th, 2007 at 12:45 am
Right from the beginning of the Malayalm blogging this has been happening. First it was women fight and some guys taking control over as the “blogging was started by their forefathers, so everybody has to go through them to start a blog”.
What they forgets is blogging is a ‘personal’ thing first. You don’t have to be a ‘community’ just for the ‘community sake’.
Pretty bad situation we have in the Malayalam blogosphere.
March 20th, 2007 at 11:44 pm
yeah, this sort of harassment and fights are unique to malayalam blogsphere! i have been observing what’s going on in the malayalam blogosphere for some time now, and am overwhelmed. there are many things unique to malayalam blogosphere that you can’t get to see in that of any other region, not even in the non-malayalam blogosphere of keralites. it seems that a good percentage of the malayalam bloggers are not sufficiently informed as to what actually the terms blog, blogosphere, blog aggregator, blog community etc. mean. because there are many in the malayalam blogosphere, bulogam or buloga koottaayma who use their blogs not for blogging but for many other things. it is not a matter of wonder if an occassional visitor to the malayalam blogs group finds himself/herself thinking that there is hardly any blogging in the malayalam blogosphere. at least a few of who take blogging seriously may think that many of the malayalam bloggers have started a blog just becuase there is some means available on the net that makes malayalam typing possible. they have no proper idea as to why they themselves blog. and they don’t have anything important to do with their blogs. perhaps that’s why they find so much time to participate in fights and mudslinging activities online. would anyone that loves his/her blog fill it with so much filth?
there is no doubt about the fact that most of the malayalam bloggers are of the notion that blog community is actually an association that is supposed to be a group of people thinking alike who uphold some common principle and fight to achieve some common objective. isn’t this utter foolishness? many in the bulogam community think that all other bloggers should think in the same vein as they, and if anyone thinks differently, then immediately a fight is started, and all those people who have nothing good to do with their blogs and who themselves don’t know why they are in the blogosphere in the first place start taking sides. when are we going to recognise that a blog is some place where one voices one’s personal opinions and ideas, and jot one’s thoughts, feelings, memories, anxieties, frustrations, joys and sorrows independently and has no obligation whatever to satisfy or to be consistent with the views of anyone else? one’s blog is one’s personal affair. many have misunderstood the significance of a blog aggregator. the real function of a blog aggregator is to provide a platform where all the voices of a community are gathered together, thus providing a summarised overall profile of the community, with all its differences and contrasts. if anyone thinks that a blog community is actually an association that strive for a common goal, they should have started some forum instead of blogs. forums help hold together people of same views and stand for the same objectives. or is it that malayalam bloggers are not aware that something called forums exist online? at least they could have started a large group-blog where only bloggers who share the same ideas and opinions should be allowed to join instead of maintaining individual blogs. as i happened to read elsewhere, the situation of the malayalam blogosphere is such that when our next generation happens to read the posts of the past, they would say that blogging happened too early for their parents. yeah, many seem to be too immature to handle blogs as of now.
recently, a blogger who is related to the global voices (http://globalvoicesonline.org/) showed interest in representing malayalam blogosphere in their site that gives periodical updates of blogospheres around the world. wouldn’t it be a shame to see an account that states something like “the last week was a really sizzling one for the malayalam blogosphere with a majority of bloggers divided into two groups slinging crap at each other with large showers of abuses directed not only towards their rival bloggers but also towards their family members who have nothing to do with blogging, over a silly post made by a blogger in his blog”? there is no doubt that malayalam bloggers will only be a laughing stock in the eyes of the world if they are represented in the global voices in the present form.
there is great scope in the malayalam blogs community for an observant student of sociology for a brilliant ph.d. thesis for it is a unique phenomenon and nothing similar to it is available anywhere else online!
March 20th, 2007 at 11:50 pm
Thanks deepdowne, that was an insightful comment!
oops, Trade unionism in Malayalam blogging…
March 21st, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Being a less qualified blogger (SSLC) in English I am here in the boologam from last few years. I can only express my idea in Malayalam well and I published my ideas in Hindi too. From the Hindi blog I reached in the space of Globalvoice against Palgiarism. The Natural Rubber related material (diagnosis of Indian Rubber Statistics) available in my pages are not available in any of the blogs in tha World. Is it a bad thing for Malayalees. The recent situation of misuderstanding and fights are finished now by the leasership of Viswaprabha. The English bloggers can see the aged blogger of 58 years with minimum qualification publishing his finding from experiments and experiences. Non of the scientists in the world has not proved the reason and remedy for ‘Brown bast’. Many of the Malayalam blogs of Devanand Pillai, Umesh P Nair, See yes, Kiranz etc. are remarkable one.
I sorry for my poor English.
March 21st, 2007 at 1:09 pm
Pretty true indeed. Good thoughts.
Being a blogger who switched on to malayalam blogging from English, I’m seriously thinking of going back to English itself. Malayalam blogosphere is not inviting anymore. Sad
March 21st, 2007 at 1:15 pm
@keralafarmer
“The English bloggers can see the aged blogger of 58 years with minimum qualification publishing his finding from experiments and experiences”.
Yes, that is what makes blogging unique. Any one can openly express their thoughts and learnings and someone else might find it very useful. Blogs are not a place to organize “comment gusti” and “boycott them” campaigns.
March 21st, 2007 at 1:21 pm
Yup,
You are right my friend. And the whole thing is so very much disgusting. People just start a blog and have no idea as to what is to be done with this. They visit the blogosphere for the thrill of a chat room with ones own language, where you can abuse others with no hinderance of a foreign language.
Malayalam bloggers have made themselves laughing stocks.And alas I am also one of the so called great malayalam boggers who are keeping the light of the language burning on the net for next generation.
March 21st, 2007 at 2:32 pm
Agreeing but not completely.
March 21st, 2007 at 5:26 pm
I truely oppose the way its getting picturised that its a ” Malayalee” problem.Wherever a public group exists,there will be backlashes,Malayalam Bloggers group also not an exception on it.Its true that some of the bloggers lacking the basic idea of blogging,but it doesnt mean that the whole community should be picturised as ugly gangs.I must say that you need to observe a little bit further to find what exactly be the output of this Malayalam Blog Community.
Just wanted to mention some of my personal positive thoughts about the malayalam blogosphere.
1.Its a Group of people who really attaracted on malayalam Unicode and it is gradually creating movements in many different filelds. eg: malayalam literature, Knowledge sharing groups ,music groups, Poetic group etc.
2.So many talented writers are getting lined up in the community and getting boosted with heartful criticism and it helps to improvise their creative work.
3.Its very true that “blogging” is a personal fixation,but some times it really helps the blogger with the suggestions of his/her viewers,here comes the unique part of the malayalm blogging.All the bloggers who’s a part of this community are having a chance to read about all others views for shaping a global idea about an incident/happenings.( Just like you reading multiple news papers or watching multiple channels ).I have seen English blogs with so much technical stuffs/philosophy/creative works/contents but without having proper advertisement or readers,those blogs can be only considered as ‘professional junks’.
March 21st, 2007 at 6:43 pm
The news is shoking, but true.
Several nasty playes in blog world.
This shuld be a threatening message to the entire malayalam blog.
The underworld blogosphere
shame!!!
March 28th, 2007 at 8:11 pm
I watched the shameful play demonstrated by some Malalalam bloggers. Ingi Pennu, Cibu and some others, who do not have any work to do and just kept on raising the issue without substance. Later on, it came out that the Sugayahtri was found to be stealing the content from Malayalam Manorama. Cibu works for Google, and does less job for Google and more jobs for harping on Yahoo. He should state he is paid for what ?
Being a Malayali, I feel that these rascals have brought our community to shame. Their hidden agenda was to claim money from Webdunia or Yahoo.
July 28th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
All that, what is going on in Malayalam Blogosphere is a good sign of growth. In a growing-dynamic community this kind of (some) problems are natural.
But as malayalees, it’s our duty to keep discipline.
I am a newcomer just 6 months here with my malayalam poems. To my surprise i got about 1500 visitors to my Rahasyalokam.
Since I am practising in Astrology and Metaphysics, I am confident in blogging and improving myself in concerned areas.
In Lonappans case, I don’t know how to say in English, AARU CHEYTHATHAAYALUM SERIYAAYILLA.(ആരു ചെയ്തതായാലും ശരിയായില്ല.)
November 9th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
1. “When this issue was reported, Yahoo promptly removed the content.” - If it has not been reported, Yahoo wouldn’t have removed. Friends, of course there is something unique with Malayalees that they respond to surroundings. Yahoo deleted it since they did not want to get into trouble. The allegation was true. I appreciate the spirit of Malayalam Bloggers.
2. “They wanted a formal apology from Yahoo.” - Obvious. If the mistake/fault is on Yahoo’s side, they must apologize. As we see in any other case. Yahoo took it positively, but why do we still have a problem?
3. “Some guys wanted Yahoo to stop all business dealings with Webdunia!” - This was a little too much!! We should have stopped there.
4. To deepdowne - By stating so much, you have not done anything better than what you have alleged about Malayalam bloggers. As you said, you too have no right to expect Malayalam bloggers to behave as you feel. It is the healthy as well as unhealthy criticisms in all spheres of life that led Kerala to this good a stage. Only in Kerala you can find every citizen leading a decent life. It is the only place where you cannot find native beggers. The standard of life reached this stage only because we respond to our surroundings. Politically, socially, it is very difficult to find this responsible a society in India.
Same way, if bloggers come across clashes in ideas, they will express it as you have done in this forum. I agree that we should act keeping a limit. But this act of Malayalam bloggers does not deserve this high level of criticism.