Blogging the nation: Malaysian women in cyberspace

Abstract

"Blogging" is a Web-based form of communication that is rapidly becoming mainstream. It is reported that Malaysian women have become avid netizens - in terms of weblogs, the Microsoft MSN survey indicated that 64 percent of Malaysian bloggers are women aged below 25. This paper looks at blogs authored by Malaysian women which are overtly political in nature to examine the motivations for blogging, the quality of social interactivity that characterise the biogs and their relationships to the bloggers' audience. By focusing on women and what they have to say about Malaysian politics, we hope to show how the internet is used as a "safe" location to speak the unspeakable.