Ahmadinejad's Blog Accumulates Traffic and Inbound Links
Posted on August 16, 2006
When Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launched a blog earlier this week so many bloggers covered the story and linked to the blog that Ahmadinejad's blog has already jumped to a rank of 3,706 on Technorati (out of about 50 million blogs) with nearly 500 inbound links. The blog has also received heavy traffic. 215,000 people filled out the online poll on the blog that read, "Do you think that the US and Israeli intention and goal by attacking Lebanon is pulling the trigger for another world war?" Slate has an article about Mahmoud's blog called Mahmoud's Space that contains a roundup of comments from several bloggers.
A Newsweek article provides some reasons why Ahmadinejad starting blogging. The article says he is trying to get to people that he can't reach with tv and newspapers. There are possible sanctions looming for Iran on August 31st that Ahmadinejad would like to sway public opinion to help him avoid sanctions.
The bigger question, perhaps, is just who the Iranian leader is targeting for his musings. The site is clearly designed for an international audience. Published in Farsi, it's also available in Arabic and English, with a French translation on its way. And with the approach of the Aug. 31 deadline for the possible imposition of sanctions against Tehran if the mullahs don't abandon their uranium-enrichment plans, it's hardly a surprise that Ahmadinejad wants a PR campaign to muster global sympathy.Newsweek cites Technorati marketing director Derek Gordon as saying this is the first blog by a sitting head of a state. Will we see other world leaders start blogs and try to outrank Iran's leader? It's hard to imagine Ahmadinejad will remain as the only blogging head of state. Blogs offered in multiple languages are a smart way for world leaders to reach out to citizens of other nations.There's also the fact that with a state-controlled media, Ahmadinejad has the means to get his message to the masses by more conventional means. A blog, however, with its connotations of hipness and modernity provides the Iranian with a counterintuitive way to deliver his message-and target a new domestic audience: youth. "He is trying to talk to people who ignore him through other media like TV or newspapers," says Mani Monajjemi, a Tehran-based blogger. Another blogger in Tehran, who requested anonymity because authorities closed down her site for six months, says Ahmadinejad is struggling to find a way to show that he cares about the way young people live.