We hit 200,000 readers!
We can’t begin to explain just how awed and humbled we are that 400,000 little eyes have perused our meager blog. Thank you.
Further, it’s our 1 year anniversary this month.
Oh yeah. 12 whole months of constant blogs from your favorite crew of penmen.
Now, we have 2 reasons to throw an e-party. To kick this off, we’re going to do our first ‘Crew Post’ where each of the crew members will donate their 2 cents on how and why they got here.
But before they do, we would all like to take a synchronized bow and unified hat doff to all the readers. You guys are this blog’s heartbeat.
Now, let’s hear from the crew.
“I got onto DR by accident. I saw a link on my Twitter timeline that seemed interesting. It was shortened, so I had no idea where it was going, but I knew NV was legit, so I clicked on it. I don’t remember what the link was, but I spent the whole day browsing the site. I recognized some posts from T&S, and I couldn’t help smiling. When I got to the part about Writers Wanted, I mailed admin and waited to see what would happen. I was approved a few days later, which was pretty cool. I’m the Resident Ranting Swede, and I like to hang out on the soapbox. My opinion seems different from The Others. I blame it on the purple hair. That dye will surely kill me someday. Oh well, onwards onwards.”
“I was going back and forth the internet when I ended up on Diasporadical’s home page, somehow; I was new to the blogosphere and had this obsessive-compulsive need to bond with other bloggers. I dropped iCon a line and now here I am. I love writing for Diasporadical—there’s really no other way to put it. The feedback from the readers is fantastic, and the crew is awesome. When I’m not daydreaming about Lewis Hamilton, I’m almost always thinking about my next post. I like to think that my posts make people re-think and re-consider. If they don’t, though, feel free to burst my bubble. I’ll appreciate the candour.”
“DR is a blog you cannot quite describe. Its content is as varied as its writers while its writers are some of the most intelligent minds in the region.
I found myself on DR when, after 14 long years, I reunited with my childhood friends – iCon and misterNV – the duo behind Diasporadical. They told me about the blog and asked me to be part of the crew. Though I wrote for mainstream media, I didn’t know much about blogging then, but I reluctantly obliged. 200,000 hits later, I’m glad I made the wise decision to be part of the DR crew.
I like to think of myself as the ‘radical’ on DiaspoRadical, writing controversial posts with the objective of inspiring thought about the things people take for granted. While I tend to take a lot of heat for my style of writing, I’m always glad to have got somebody out there to critically think for themselves and not let other people think for them
Together with the other existing writers – iCon, misterNV, 3CB, Davina, Le’special – and those that will join the crew in the near future, my desire is to see DR become the objective and credible voice that readers worldwide turn to on local, regional and international matters as perceived by young Africans.
Happy 1 year DR!!!”
“200,000? In one year? I would be lying if I said that I wont let this milestone go to my head.
But let’s face it, this is clearly one of those “umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu” things as the Zulu of South Africa would say. “DR is what is it is because of who you all are.”
Thank you to all the fans, subscribers, readers, commenters, lurkers, bloggers, tweeters, plagiarisers and nay-sayers that have made this blog what it is today.
And to my fellow DR crew members, it’s been great working together this long. Let’s keep on keeping on.”
iCon
“I already gave my little story here. Basically, I flew into the country and wanted to start a blog with NV. But for the sake of being interesting, I’ll add an angle to it by giving an answer the most frequently asked question I get offline.
‘Why the name “diasporadical”?’
Simply, it’s a mash between Diaspora and Radical. We were united by our desire to revolutionize, shake the tree up from the roots and revise status quo. I told both NV and Nittz – our elder statesmen – that if we’re going to go along with the grain, we might as well just not blog and keep our voices hushed. There are too many classifications and divisions that restrict us from just being Kenyans. Or Africans. Or people. We’re so caught up in our definitions and bubbles that most of us will never act outside of the ‘class’ + ‘tribe’ + ‘religion’ + ‘region’ parameters we fall into for fear of being called out. We need a place where we can unite.
So here we are. Bloggers and commentators alike. We are hear to be heard and to listen. We are here to be called out. We are here to ask ‘Why not?’ We are here to keep calling you an idiot until you can prove us otherwise because that’s the only way we can spark the discussions that will fuel the changes we need to see.
And my goodness have we had some interesting discussions here. We’ve also made some concrete changes offline. So really, numbers and dates aside, I think we’re doing good. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you all – crew and readers.
I am curious to hear from the readers on how and why you got here so please chime in in the comments. All feedback, good and bad welcome.
NB: Drinks on me if you can find me tonight.”
I troll the net quite a bit…mostly reading other peoples blogs and whatnot…the first post I read on here was that of iCon..his Times Towers incident…and I remember laughing so hard, ended up book marking the site…and the rest as they say is history…
Hehe. Oh, on that note, Atypical Tuesdays returns next week…
Yesssss!!!
Happy 1st Birthday to diasporadical and congratulations to all of you!! (runs to kitchen to take a shot…even if it is 4am) A friend posted an article on fb that linked back to the site a couple of months ago and I have been lurking here ever since. The writing is both raw and inspirational and I do hope that it never changes. Good luck to all of you and here’s to many more (another shot) Slainte!
I want to see you at 10am at this rate….
Congrats DR team! Ok so when are you hitting 300,000? By August/September 2011?
P.S: If I do predict correctly, I should win a prize, au sio?
We’ll buy you an iPat
It’s like an iPad, except it’s me patting you on the shoulder.
iPat.
The Government should shut this Blog down!! * Kibaki on speed-dial*
They just might at this rate…lol.
found this blog courtesy of KenyaUnlimited aggregator…the timing was was correct as the usual funny bloggers..archer,milo and the rest had taken a break.i have been hooked since.converted half of my colleagues as well.
Thanks for spreading word! From our stats, we’ve realised that kenyans have this peculiar habit of reading posts but withholding their comments. We’d really appreciate hearing more from you guys, even if you’re not agreeing with us.
You’re welcome, btw.
Ever since someone forwarded my a link to this blog, I’ve been here everyday waiting for a new post; Sometimes with little success. Nowadays I have a RSS feed on my browser which I religiously check for updates every hour.
p.s. I’ve waited for Atypical tuesday for eternity
Thanks MrJohn.
Atypical Tuesday Season 2 coming soon!
Happy Birth-month DR! *hmmm… that doesn’t sound quite right*
My highly-summarized-seeing-as-I’m-female story:
When I finally found out what he meant… three weeks later… I checked DR out. And kept coming. I can’t quite stick to a single internet ID though…
New school, new faces… but one not-so-strange face. After my cliche “you look familiar” remark, NV retorted with “Do you blog?” I figured that to be some activity involving trees
To the DR crew: I salute the discipline you all have shown-writing consistently isn’t easy especially if you don’t get a nice (or at least moderate) cheque to keep you motivated. And then there are those times when everyone’s a blurker
BIG UP!!
Nyam dear, your story-telling skills are seriously wanting!
That said, keep those witty insightful comments of yours coming.
You’re welcome, btw.
Soapbox.
That was the glue…i drifted in and out of various articles until I saw 3CB’s rant that totally cracked me up.
You all bring a beautiful balance to the blog. Its all at once funny, poignant, thought provoking, angry, hopeful…
There is such a rush of emotions involved when reading here. Its one of the few where i come back to read not just the articles themselves but the comments as well.
Well done on your achievement. I can’t think of a more deserving crew.
Much appreciated, Sam. The DR Soapbox is always open to you if you ever need it.
Congrats peoples, great to see you guys hit the 200k mark. To say the writing is top notch would be outstanding…
BTW @iCon am hunting you down tonight, those pints lazma…
Cheers
You and I both, sir. Hizo pints lazima.
Thanks for the support.
‘outstanding’ meant ‘understating it..’ blame it hitting the enter key too fast..
Cheers all the same
Wewe congratulations DR proud of you all. Some random jama coerced me into checking this blog out….fortunately for me its been absolutely amazing. Keep up the good work.
Ali!!!! There you are. I’m grateful to that random jamaa (who I think I may know) for getting you to check out DR.
PS: Gravatar.com is your friend. It’s long over-due.
Dude why the hating on my simplistic no avatar existence hehehe
Congrats to the team, I’m constantly amazed by how you are able to come up with new and interesting stuff every week. I always remember you whenever I see a probox, cube and all those ridiculous cars you wrote about – Those were my favourite posts
Happy one year old! Came here via a tweet by Kenyanpundit…love the blog though I never have comments worth leaving.
Glad to have met two of your writers.
http://diasporadical.com/2010/11/19/you-are-not-marriage-material/ this is my best post
I don’t remember the first post I ever read here but I know I read it almost daily and steer clear from commenting when I can’t add further insight. Gathering such a team and being consistent as you have been is no mean task.
iCon, Typical Tuesday please!
Love you guys! DR best Kenyan blog. Hands down. I check DR at least once a day for new posts. yaani guys, nawapenda. Keep doing what ur doing. Except maybe more often!
And oh, I came to DR via iCon.
one of the best blogs
great blog…the posts on cars i would/wouldn’t buy were really great!!
move on to a mil..