Amatomu: acting local
Posted by philbuk on Jun 9th, 2007
I've just joined Amatomu. Their motto: "The South African blogosphere, sorted."
Look down my sidebar and you'll see the little link.
Localness is all the rage. Even though we revel in the huge, all-encompassingness of the Internet, there are still plenty of times when we want a smaller, closer space to play in.
Amatomu was received with joy and sighs of "about time" from the South African blogging community when it launched earlier this year. There are probably many other communities waiting for a smaller space to call their own.
Google/yahoo groups are nice, but it's even better to have something with an "official" feeling to really make you feel like you're part of something important.
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June 9th, 2007 at 10:02 pm
Welcome, phil. About time
June 13th, 2007 at 6:59 am
Phil,
I think it is a natural consequence of cultures that are commonly overwhelmed by products/services from other countries.
Being an Englishman living in Australia I am highly atuned to the "made in Australia" type marketing attributed to everything from websites to real world products/services.
Were we just oblivious to this in the UK or do British companies not use this approach?
Iain
June 13th, 2007 at 7:27 am
Iain, British companies do use this approach. In supermarkets you can see a little tractor logo in the colours of the union jack, that means the product is local.
Personally, this never swayed me to buy a product when I lived in the UK. However now in South Africa I will buy the products marked 'proudly South African' in preference to others, even if the SA products are more expensive.
A tin of imported Italian tomatoes is cheaper to buy here than a tin of locally produced and tinned tomatoes. I believe this is due to European farm subsidies. It symbolises all that is wrong with the economic relationship between the West and Africa. I never believed that those heavily-subsidised British farmers really needed my support. I do however passionately believe in supporting African industry. Africa doesn't need charity from the West, it needs business. The former Nigerian finance minister agrees.
I think that blogging can have a positive impact on local business (just look at Stormhoek), and blogging is definitely taking off in Africa, even in those countries where internet penetration is tiny.
June 13th, 2007 at 8:06 am
There's a question here about what the criteria are for a successful homegenous group.
If people feel under-represented, then clubbing together with people can help us find a voice and feel better.
If people feel sufficiently represented, then there's no real need to support the group - we can start to take our status for granted.