A recent observation has compelled me to reflect on the title of this blog post: Is Blogging A Calling? Who said blogging was easy? Why do so many blogs fail? The focus of my observation is on the multitudes of personal blogs that have closed shop and those on indefinite leave of absence.

For the purpose of this blog post, I would classify blogs into 3 groups and explain why I think the 3rd group is the most vulnerable.

Group blogs
These types of blogs are managed by two or more bloggers, whether as a formal business or not-for-profit. At the top of this ladder are blogs managed by professional bloggers. Their day job is to proactively search for currently relevant information and share same with their audience. They get a pay cheque and so are contractually compelled to perform at optimum level. The most popular blogs on the Internet today fall squarely into this category. Example: mashable.com

These blogs are usually well-financed and make money from ads placed by leading brands. Since such blogs are managed professionally, their chances of failure are low.

Probloggers
These are individuals who blog for a living. They spend most of their time focused on events, magazines, websites and other sources relevant to their blogging niche. They are hardly ever short of material and are wildly popular whether on a global scale or within their region/country. They are usually popular enough to attract advertisement directly from businesses that want to reach the blogger’s niche audience. Example: problogger.net

Chances of failure? Medium. The professional blogger would have to loose focus to fail.

Freelance bloggers
Most bloggers fall into this category. While there is really no such thing as a “freelance blogger”, I am compelled to use that term to distinguish this category of bloggers from the others listed above.

These bloggers usually have a day job that pays their bills. Blogging for them, is only an activity done out of passion to change the world, or to make a name, or earn some cool cash on the side. Their main life focus is understandably on their job and they only make time to blog. As such, these blogs are typically not updated regularly. At best, they are updated regularly for a period of time, before falling back into the cycle of irregularity.

While the chances of failure are high, the reasons for failure abound:

• Get rich quick: Some get into blogging because they consider it the holy grail of unending cash. While it is possible to earn $100,000′s of cash annually from blogging, one would need to run the blog properly to earn over $100 a month.
• Doing it right: Some do not follow the basic principles of blogging. It helps to learn well before delving into it. Writing well and not gaining the right audience is like lighting a candle and placing it under a table. The blogger soon looses steam when he/she gains little attention, and quits.
• Lack of ideas? The world is never short of blogging material. The leading news houses for example, never struggle for what to broadcast/publish, but rack their brains on which to leave out! A blogger who does not know where or how to look for fresh material soon gives up.
• Time. “There is one kind of robber whom the law does not strike at, and who steals what is most precious to men:  time”.  ~Napoleon I, Maxims, 1815.
  Sometimes, a blogger can have all the material to publish, know exactly how to blog effectively, but simply lack sufficient time to sit down and put it all together. Freelance bloggers are often obliged to give utmost priority to their day jobs, and constantly struggle to create time for blogging. The not-so-committed ones soon abandon their respective blogs to gather dust and cobwebs. Many of such litter blogger.com while the committed ones only manage to publish randomly, at best.

Now you see why I am wondering if the art of blogging is a calling for a special set of people who can afford to give it all the time it requires, and do it right.

Are you a blogger? What are your views? How do you cope with the rigours of blogging? Share your thoughts here and now.

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Have you seen the new Digg.com? It not only spots a new interface but has also added multitudes of new functionalities. The new Digg offers its users a much-more fulfilling experience by making the business of sharing news very easy and straight-forward.

Digg was the place to watch for the trending news from across the world, up until a few years ago. Digg was built on the very concept of trends. Users find a compelling story worth sharing, and then “digg it”. In a short span of time, the most popular diggs are aggregated on the homepage of digg.com with some classified into specific categories like Technology, Politics, Sports etc.

I have watched Digg decline in popularity over the years as Facebook and Twitter ate into its turf. Whilst it took a geek to even know about Digg.com, Facebook and Twitter are much more mainstream. The fate of Digg seemed to have been sealed for good when buttons appeared for Facebook and Twitter that gave an idea of a story’s popularity by counting the number of times the story had been “liked” on Facebook or tweeted on Twitter. Though Digg.com brought the concept of counter buttons to the fore, the duo of Facebook and Twitter made it wildly popular among bloggers and other online publishers.

Over time, Digg.com had become so unpopular that a lot of bloggers and new websites had removed the Digg buttons and replaced them with… you guessed right.. Facebook and Twitter buttons.

However, Digg is not dead – not yet. The development team have been quietly busy re-alligning the focus of their news sharing website, in a bid to make it more relevant in today’s fast-paced social networking world. The new Digg.com makes sharing a pleasure. There are less hurdles to cross when sharing and even sign-up is simple since one could choose to sign-up using one’s Facebook or Twitter login credentials.

The new Digg is more personal

The new Digg looks like a fusion between Facebook and Twitter. It now places emphasis on the concept of  “followers” just like Twitter, and prominently displays the Digg users’ bio data on the top-right corner of the website.

Information sharing just got personal again. Digg now spots a new tab that filters out the noise and displays stories from only people you follow.

Now might be a good time to give Digg another chance and return those Digg buttons to your blog or news website.

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For anyone who travels regularly across the land borders within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the notoriety and cruelty of the uniformed officials along the route would be a regular reality. Extortion and brutality is the order of the day, along the land borders. Travellers (especially citizens of ECOWAS countries) are routinely subjected to the worst form of human treatment. Their dignity is taken away and the few who are bold enough to challenge these officials are subjected to personal insults, shoving or in the worst case scenario, beaten and/or arrested.

Travel across West Africa by land is a very unpleasant ordeal for most West Africans. Image Credit: Peter Fitzgerald

It might take a whole book for me to recount my experience across the borders between Ghana and Nigeria, over the years. Aside the funny incidents I have witnessed, there are countless  others that I have heard or read others recount. Thus, when I read another account from an angry traveller via Facebook last night, I promptly contacted the author and with her kind permission, I have re-published her sad story below. The account rendered by ‘Toyin Ajao (no blood relation) is not only touching, but a reflection of  reality. Do not stop at just reading this. Help to spread the word so together, we can bring a meaningful change to our part of the world.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(())~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As a citizen of ECOWAS country, the sense one has was that of free passage that came with no hassle if one has to travel through any ECOWAS countries. No visas is needed, show your passport or National ID card as the case may be and you will be fine. That was the rule but this is clearly not the case.

There is always demands for money to be paid for stamping of”passport” in all the borders I have passed through. Talking of Nigeria, Benin,Togo, Burkina and Mali. There has never being a receipt for this kind of payment, never. This makes me wonder if it is ever authorized. This payment demanded at the borders, ranges between 300cfa to 1,000cfa and when you asked why you had to pay, the polite ones will tell you it was for stamping while the rude officers will just have you ignored and your passport put aside.

This particular experience am to talk about got me shocked of all my travels within West Africa. I passed through Porga border of Benin Republic on the 11th of August, 2010 where we met with disrespectful immigration officers that treated everyone with total cruelty and rudeness. The vehicle I had boarded arrived at Porga border of Benin Republic and we all submitted our travel papers as usual. When it was my turn, the officer in charge asked me to pay 5,000cfa to get my passport stamped and I asked why it was so. He did not bother to answer me but commanded me to leave his sight and go to stay under a tent that was 500 meters away from his office. I asked why I had to go and stand there and I was met with another rude answer to please notask him any question but do as he said. I even barely got the question out ofmy breath when he screamed and ask me to do what he said.

All the other passengers were treated the same way even worse as in the case of a lady who had forgotten her passport. She went to have a discussion with the only woman among the 3 immigration officer who instead of explaining to her whether it would not be permitted for her to pass without her passport or other form of ID, screamed at her and gave her a slap! After which she had to part with 10,000cfa with her fiance to be able to pass. What is this for God sake? Why was everyone treated like criminals at Porga border by the officers in charge? Many other travelers were ordered out of the sights of the officers, as the officers rudely cut into their speeches thereby making it difficul tfor anyone to speak or ask a question. Another passenger was locked up in their office after being dragged like a common criminal.

I was advised by someone to bring what I had so I won’t delay the other passengers. I pulled the remaining 2,000cfa that I had to give the officer but was told by the second male officer to go back to where they asked me to stand! I had to ask our vehicle driver for a loan of 1,000cfa when after all the cruel treatment melted out to all of us, the officers demanded for me to pay 3,000cfa before I can have my passport stamped. I do not believe that the Benin Republic government would have approved of this behavior nor aware of this behavior. I worry about this kind of occurrence at Porga borderas this does not promote good image and practice. I worry that if this is left unchallenged and the officers not better trained to do their job, things will only get worse.

Author: ‘Toyin Ajao

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It has been a long and windy journey of self-discovery; a journey of networking and opportunities. Come 1st November 2010, this personal blog would have been up-and-running for 5 years. I dare say, it has been a relative success.

What do you want to know about my blogging?

I would be publishing a grand blog post on the anniversary date, that would offer some insight into the journey so far. It would not only delve into the things I have done right, but also share some of my regrets. It is something you really want to lookout for.

To make that day’s publication even more meaningful, I am giving you the opportunity to ask questions on issues you have always wanted to know, about blogging. It could be generic in nature or specific to my experience. I would split the day’s post into multiple parts, should that become necessary. I intend to address as many questions and suggestions as possible. So send/post yours now.

How to ask your probing blogging questions
The preferable mode of throwing your questions at me would be through the comments section of this blog post. If you prefer some anonymity, feel free to email me directly by making use of the contact page on this website.

Until then, cheers to many more exciting years of meaningful blogging.

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I recently had a short interview with Chris-Vincent, founder of Africadiscuss.com, an all african forum aimed at providing a platform for Africans and those of interest in Africa to discuss issues of common concern. Enjoy.

Chris-Vincent: I am Chris-Vincent a law student at the University of East London in the UK. I am a Ghanaian and a full time blogger. I am also the founder of ghanacelebrities.com and now trying to push nigerianshowbiz.com and africadiscuss.com. I am a freelance self-taught web designer with a few clients. After finishing law school next year, I am considering moving to Africa.

So have down the intro of myself …now shoot the questions.

A snapshot of africadiscuss.com

Oluniyi: What was the motive behind setting-up africadiscuss.com?

Chris-Vincent: It came out from the belief I have about the benefits of discussions. I believe through discussions we can deny ignorance by sharing info, thoughts and ideas. I realized there is no one platform aimed at bringing all Africans under one umbrella to discuss issues affecting us within Africa and those exerted on us from external powers. The motive is to provide a platform where all Africans can share their views on issues itching them.

Oluniyi: I am sure you realise that there are thousands of discussion forums focused on Africa in general, or on specific African countries. How does your new website aim to be different?

Chris-Vincent: It is true that there are lots of forum out there for specific African countries and even those who seek to target the entire Africa. My research prior to setting up Africadiscuss.Com taught me that, collectively as Africans we form a big force and voice and as such individual countries paddling their own canoes (country by country forums) do not carry the vibrant and powerful force that a collective all Africa forum would bring.

Also, the existing forums which seek to be that of all-African platform or board have really not live up to their all African inclusion. They are still paddling along country lines… Collective force is great but not easy to mobilize. Most of the all African portrayed forums have not been able to mobilize on collective force hence the vibrancy of their existence is been shaded away. Africadiscuss.com is riding on what they have failed to do to fetch them the powerful voice and that is what makes us different…the idea of collective voice to push a common goal.

Oluniyi: What themes would africadiscuss.com be focusing on?

Chris-Vincent: it would inter alia be focusing on the majority of issues affecting the everyday life of the ordinary African, notably politics (the fountainhead of our success and failure), education, entertainment, relationship, religion (the fountainhead of our morals), sports …

Oluniyi: Are there any areas you would not cover?

Chris-Vincent: We are looking to cover all the major areas of effects to Africans..we would add up new areas with time as and when they become issues of common concern or to discussed.

Oluniyi: Africa is a huge continent containing 53 countries. Do you have enough resources to tackle this gigantic task?

Chris-Vincent: That is a good question. Resource is always limited but managing 53 countries under a single umbrella or platform cuts down the resources needed to manage each country separately or a board for each country. We are at this point seeking for people who see a course in our objectives to set in and throw any little weight behind us. Currently we have managed to get the biggest entertainment focused online tabloid/ site (ghanacelebrities.com) to partner with us in promoting the forum and provide little resource to cater for hosting and others. We are still running around to get most of the African online media and blogs to chip in their little by promoting and creating awareness for Africadiscuss.com

Oluniyi: Where do you see africadiscuss.com in 5 years’ time?

Chris-Vincent: To become if not the biggest online free speech platform for all Africans and those with interest in discussing African issues , then one of the biggest in Africa.

Oluniyi: Thanks for your time, Chris and I wish you all the best with africadiscuss.com and other endeavours.

Chris-Vincent: Thanks a lot too. It’s been nice talking to you.

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free2view is not exactly new – it has been in existence for years. They have been lurking in the shadows for a while now, but relaunched properly some months ago with a mission of capturing former GTV subscribers. Before now, free2view had been at loggerheads with ICASA, South Africa’s regulatory body in charge of broadcasting, post and telecommunication.

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) warned that if the UK based free-to-air broadcaster continued operating without a licence it could block Free2View’s satellite signal or take other action.

free2view has since surmounted that challenge and positioned itself for a brilliant future. The service is unlike your typical free-to-air digital satellite TV service. While the service is free-of-charge, the signals are encrypted. Thus, one would need to procure their own decoder or buy a voucher for a GTV decoder, to be able to enjoy their free TV/radio channels.

free2ViewBasic, a single dish system pointed at Astra 4A currently

When GBS/GTV abruptly exited the market in January 2009, they left some 180,000 subscribers in Africa high and dry. The same number of GTV decoders were rendered useless since those decoders were custom-made for GTV. However, free2view found a way to make those decoders useful again. They simply required the old GTV subscribers to buy a free2View Switchon Voucher for activation, and point their satellite dish towards Astra 4A at 4.8°E. The GTV decoder would then download a software update before linking up to the free2view service.

The following statement from their website explains their mission:

free2View is a free–to–consumer encrypted digital satellite Broadcaster.  We’re the largest Free to Air satellite Broadcaster in Africa with an estimated population footprint of 850 million people and a known base of 50 million TV households – excluding Nigeria – where there is a further estimated 50 Million TV households.

The demise of the Pay TV operator GTV in Sub Saharan Africa left a dilemma. f2V as the free–to–air element of the box – with its news channel MSNBC – was aware of the disruption and great disadvantage suffered by the people of Africa – in particular East Africa, who after buying a box – and in some instances paying large sums of money in Subscription fees in advance – were now disenfranchised. It was f2V’s determination that this would not happen again. The poor should not always pay.

We have subsequently turned this dilemma into a huge opportunity. With the directors firm belief in free–to–air television, f2V is set about finding a way for the GTV boxes to be reused. With the help of our strategic partner NDS, a method was created.

f2V now owns the technology providing the head end and encryption methodology . We are able to address all 180 000 ex GTV subscribers. The viewer now has the ability with a once–off purchase, in the form of a Switchon voucher , to re–open their old GTV box. Viewers are now able to watch the best of Digital Satellite TV as well as many other community and state broadcast channels we know are important to our audience, in their native tongue, be it English, French, Portuguese, Dutch or Swahili.

The encrypted feed now enables f2V to offer premium digital satellite television for free. We have therefore included content from the BBC, ITV, Freemantle and much, much more…

It was and remains the objective of free2View to provide the best Digital Satellite TV for FREE . No Monthly Bills, No Subscription, No Contract. Just FREE Digital Satellite TV.

free2view is aiming to offer 4 different bouquets: f2VBasic, f2V+2, f2V+3 and f2V+5. However, it doesn’t seem like all is well with free2view. Of their 4 bouquets, only f2VBasic is active and even with that, 4 of the channels are currently off-air:

• f2V One: the latest soaps, drama, action and movies. (currently off air)
• Canal 2: Canal 2 International (Cameroon) is a French entertainment channel specifically targeting African and Caribbean communities.
• Canal 3 Benin
• Vox Africa
• BVN: a Dutch public TV station
• Canal Info News: The French news service from West Africa
• f2V Movies: blockbuster movies (currently off air)
• f2V Kids: cartoons (currently off air)
• LMTV: General Entertainment Christian value channel with popular programs such as House, CSI Miami. The channel is broadcast in French.
• Touba TV: a senegalise TV service (currently off air)

SwitchSat is the official online supplier and distributor of Free2View decoders, both the original GTV decoder as well as the new KAON decoder for all Sub–Saharan African countries. You would need to contact them for the original GTV decoder, the new KAON decoder or SwitchOn vouchers.

free2view is powered by a UK-based company known as Great Media.

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I was attracted by the headline of a news report on 234next.com, this dawn: Commission to tackle kidnapping with technology

The spate of kidnapping in the country can be curtailed by embracing the use of telecommunications technology.

The acting vice chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) expressed this view yesterday, following the release of the four recently abducted journalists.

Bashir Gwandu, addressing chief executives of the GSM, CDMA, and other major network operating companies in Abuja, lamented that kidnapping has become a serious threat to lives and businesses in Nigeria over the last one year, especially in the South-East and South-South zones of the country.

Mr. Gwandu said that “with just about 1000 naira, a multitude of crimes can be committed by purchasing multiple sim cards and misused them to threaten others via voice or text messages, and also commit other phone-assisted crimes. This has to stop.”

Holding a person against his/her will is a criminal offence anywhere. Kidnapping is a despicable act. Having said that, let’s analyse Bashir Gwandu’s further statements.

He said the NCC has “plans to issue subsidy to telecommunications operators to install equipment on every mast and tower that could be used for triangulating between sites in order to identify real-geographical location of both GPS and None GPS-enabled mobile handsets.”

Google Maps for mobile can already generate estimated location coordinates of mobile phones that have it installed, without relying on special equipment.

Assuming NCC can really pull that off, what happens to the privacy of mobile phone users? Did they sign-up for their movements to be tactically monitored by telecom operators? Why does anything need to be installed anyway when existing cell masts can already be used to triangulate the estimated location of any mobile phone (GPS-capable or not)? Google Maps already uses cell mast triangulation for its Google Map for Mobile service. Is this “subsidy” another plot to squander tax payers’ money?

Mr. Gwandu stated that in addition to the triangulation project, all GPS-enabled handsets can also be tracked by low earth orbit satellites. He further stated that there are other equipment that could be deployed to tract and identify the locations of handsets being used to solicit for ransom.

This is ludicrous. Telecom operators are now law enforcement agencies. Even if the NCC was allowed to implement this absurdity, how would they access the GPS coordinates of a mobile phone since the GPS feature needs to be explicitly activated by the phone user before the phone can be tracked? Do they plan to hack phones and turn on GPS on the phones remotely? Or, are they counting on phone users to voluntarily leave their GPS feature on all the time? By the way, GPS drains phone batteries. Tracking keeps the phone’s microprocessor very busy and so consumes a lot of energy.

According to him, “once ownership of numbers can be identified, handsets can be tracked, and their geographical location becomes identifiable, then any call made to solicit for ransom will help to locate the kidnappers.”

I can’t help laughing. Hardened criminals like kidnappers would voluntarily register their SIM cards with their real personal details in other to make the job of law enforcement easy. Too bad, we live in a real world where that fantasy is hardly possible.

In addition to this, NCC has initiated a project that will block stolen handsets once they are reported as being stolen. The project will also be helpful in stopping criminals from using snatched handsets in perpetrating such act.

How many times are we going to read things like this? Haven’t we heard this before? How many times does the NCC want to attempt blocking stolen phones? Is it not the exact responsibility of the phone owner to promptly report a stolen phone to the service provider for the SIM to be promptly deactivated? A country that cannot generate adequate power supply, that cannot hold free & fair elections, that cannot properly conduct a population census now wants to track and block mobile phones. How noble!

It is very obvious that the acting boss of NCC is pulling this stunt, to create an impression on the Nigerian public that he is very competent and on top of his game. Whilst I would not question his competence, this particular act can only be counter-productive in any enlightened society since such information (useful or not) is best shared directly with the law enforcement agencies. The Nigeria Police, the State Security Service (SSS), the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) etc, are the best to be tutored on technology meant for tracking criminals and NOT the head of telecom companies who already understand the technologies (else, why would they be in business?) nor the media.

Is the NCC on the right track or not? Share your thoughts in the comments area.

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The 5th edition of Big Brother Africa tagged Big Brother All Stars starts tonight at 1700GMT.

M- Net made a dramatic announcement confirming that the show is set to be a fully fledged ALL STARS version, featuring some of the most unforgettable, outspoken, entertaining previous housemates.

Big Brother All Stars will see 14 housemates from 14 African countries come together to compete 24/7 for 91 days in the search for the ultimate winner prize – USD 200 000, watched by audiences on DStv channel 198.

The Big Brother Africa 5 housemates in  the order they entered:

1. Mwisho from Tanzania
2. Jennifer from Mozambique
3. Paloma – Zambia
4. Munya – Zimbabwe
5. Code – Malawi
6. Sheila from Kenya
7. Yacob from Ethiopia
8. Sammy from Ghana
9. Kaone from Botswana
10. Merly from Namibia
11. Uti from Nigeria
12. Lerato from South Africa
13. Hannington from Uganda
14. Tatiana from Angola

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Ahmad Mukoshy is a young Web Developer based in Sokoto, northern Nigeria. He describes himself as:

… a young 20 year old Nigerian serial entrepreneur who founded of Yarnable, an elegant micro-blogging platform and YRN.ME a URL shortener.

I recently granted him an interview after meeting him at BarCamp Nigeria 2010. He shared the motivation behind his social networking websites, his plans for the future and a little bit about his personality. Enjoy…

Ahmad Mukoshy of yarnable.com & yrn.me Image: davidajao.com

Oluniyi: What was your exact motivation for developing yrn.me?

Ahmad: Well, it was the idea of building yarnable that ignite yrn.me. During the early thoughts I had to build Yarnable, I forecasted the need for a URL shortner hence a tally name Yarn Me!

Oluniyi: So why was yrn.me unveiled weeks before yarnable.com?

Ahmad: I began building yrn.me first while putting down the parent site. More especially, the yrn.me core system took me about a week to build while 3 months to build Yarnable. I was also a user of URL shortening service, so I thought I and my twitter friends could make use of yrn.me not just for Yarnable, that was how I made it public.

Oluniyi: How has the response to yrn.me been so far?

Ahmad: It is quite appreciable and I was more than surprised how the usage picked up so fast. When I built it, I never thought the hype or the public usage will be this good. So, I now I am building the system better with personalized keywords, user accounts and statistic report.

Oluniyi: Would you say you have achieved your aim of building yrn.me?

Ahmad: Well, not yet. Because, now I plan to have it on the top of African URL shortening services. I set to compete well with major brands like bit.ly and tinyurl. With the more home keyword, Yarn Me. I believe I have a chance to have Africa use Yrn.me especial when it’s getting better.

Oluniyi: You have quite laudable plans and I take it for granted that you have a strong strategy to make that impact. Right?

Ahmad: Yes, surely I will make the big impact. I have the passion for it, I use it and my friends do so it is here to stay.

Oluniyi: What is your current market share of the URL shortener space for Nigeria?

Ahmad: No such data has been available to me, however the market is not so competitive to me. Yrn.me has shortened over 300links since launch!

Oluniyi: Could you describe yarnable in your own words?

Ahmad: Yarnable is a micro-discussion platform that allow users to share topics of interest in under 140 characters.

Oluniyi: Hmn. With a glance at Yarnable, the obvious word that comes to mind is “Twitter”. How does Yarnable compare with Twitter?

Ahmad: It also allow other users to pick topics that interest them the most and share their own thoughts as well making it a real conversation tool. We share one basic thing, the 140 character limit. Aside from that, Yarnable has its own vision which has no relation to being a twitter clone as most people assume.

Oluniyi: Hmn. What sets Yarnable apart?

Ahmad: Yarnable stands aside twitter to build a discussion platform, while twitter stands to update you on timely activities. Yarnable will soon be the hot cake when it comes to sharing thoughts and views on general daily activities. It will also serve as a basic tool to unite like minded people.

Oluniyi: Who is your target audience for Yarnable?

Ahmad: Well, I aim at the general public more specifically young adults who’re more passionate about discovering people sharing ideas and building a useful social relationships.

Oluniyi: Are you eyeing any geographical location? Nigeria? Africa? Or the world generally?

Ahmad: Yes, I aim the world at large. But for now, my main focus toward growing the platform is Africa, a place reachable and marketable for me.

Oluniyi: Nice. So, why should an average user in Africa choose yrn.me over bit.ly?

Ahmad: Yrn.me is tiny, compared to bit.ly, but I offer custom feel for African community.

Oluniyi: Do you have any plans for new features to yrn.me and are you able to share some of them?

Ahmad: Yrn.me portray more of the African community, specifically Nigeria. I also plan to add more features that will overlap the bit.ly competition with me. Yes, so many features I plan to include to the shortening service like the newly launched statistic report which I will optimize to a more useful detailed feature. I also plan to make it social, in the sense users can discover interesting links from other users.

Oluniyi: Impressive.

Ahmad: In a nutshell, it will be a unified service of things like Digg and StumbleUpon.

Oluniyi: The login credentials for yrn.me and yarnable.com don’t seem to be linked. Why is that so? Wouldn’t it be much more convenient if users could login to either services using the same login details?

Ahmad: Yes, the reason why I didn’t link the two is that yrn.me uses a single stream of both username and links making shortened link block username accessibility. But, I will soon link the two using another algorithm.

Oluniyi: Ok. So what is your motivation for both services? What’s your aim/objective? Money? Fame? Both?

Ahmad: I am a growing programmer, I explore things and my quest led me to this two startups. However, I take them to be my most precious labs to improve my skills and make them bigger and better. Both Yarnable and Yrn.me I plan to lead them to success zone, and I am doing so with some day they outgrow the founder and maybe acquisition, merger or incorporation will follow.

Oluniyi: That is quite ambitious. Where do you see both services in 5 years time?

Ahmad: Well, I see yrn.me as the most widely used URL Shortner in Africa and Yarnable as the leading social discussion site. During my research to build Yarnable, I figured it’s the first of its kind regarding my plans for it. I know it will be discovered more soon and when it runs out of beta, a lot of people will discover my long time picture of it.

Oluniyi: I look forward to that. Tell the readers of this blog a few things about Ahmad. Who is Ahmad and what do you do at your leisure?

Ahmad: Uhm… I am 20yr old born in Northern Nigeria (Sokoto). I love programming and business, I like reading books, playing chess and listening to music. I started web development not long ago, professionally in 2008 when I began building interactive sites. That’s all I can say for now.

Oluniyi: Thanks for your time Ahmad and I wish you all the very best with your online endeavours.

Ahmad: Thank you, it was my pleasure.

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I was interviewed via telephone by Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) in June 2010, and was asked some questions about blogging as part of their Blogging for a living: it’s catching on in Africa. “Blogging for a living” was part of an episode of Bridges with Africa.

Image via RNW

Bridges with Africa is RNW’s radio programme linking Africans in Africa and Africans in the diaspora. Every week we bring you interviews, feature stories and African music. From culture and business to scandals and sports. You’ll hear what makes Africans tick.

Their report on blogging in Africa started the following statement:

Its clear that blogs come in varied shapes and sizes and it looks like they’re here to stay but a new trend is developing in Africa – the growth of the blog as a tool to make money. African bloggers are beginning to earn a living and in some cases, fame for their exploits.

The report featured Christopher Mills, the South African blogger behind imod.co.za His blog is easily one of Africa’s most successful blogs and constantly ranks among the top 5, in Africa according to Afrigator. He spoke with RNW about the impact African blogs are starting to have since Africa has soared up in the ranks of technology as well as the types of bloggers.

I spoke to RNW about how I got started with blogging, how I make money from blogging and I shared an important tip for anyone interested in starting a blog in Africa.

Enough already. Just stream the audio using the player below:

My first ever blog post in the strict sense of the word was on 15th February 2005. The first posts I however wrote on this current blog were on 4th November 2005. Therefore, this blog would be 5 years old in November. I would reveal much more information about the impact blogging has had on me on 4th November 2010.

As always, your comments, suggestions and questions are welcome in the comments area.

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