Nooj

Between my shadow and my soul

Still Life


Food gets consumed

Flowers wilt

Metal rusts and

Paint c r a c k s



Underneath these things


We call real


Is the moment


When time stood still

1 shared ideas:

aej July 19, 2010 at 12:01 PM  

Greetings!

I hope this finds you well. My name is Alison Jarrett and I am currently a post-graduate student at the London School of Economics and Political Science, studying Global Media and Communications. I found your blog through a maze of links in the blogosphere. :)

At the moment I am beginning the empirical research for my dissertation which seeks to identify motivations among young British Muslims who create and maintain their own blogs and websites. I am looking primarily at motivations originating from Islamic identity, British identity and online youth culture identity. I am interested in learning about why they keep religious blogs, what sorts of things they write about, and the kinds of responses they get from readers. 'Motivation' for religious online activity seems to be an area largely unexplored in British Muslim youth culture research.

I am looking for young Muslims, age 18-35, who keep a religious blog or website, and was wondering if you fit the profile or know someone who does. I have a short survey if you'd like to contribute and enrich my research, which I'm including at the bottom of the email.

I would greatly appreciate any help or advice, and please don’t hesitate to ask questions if you want more clarification on my work. The finished report is due to be released around November, and I will happily share my research and findings.

Best regards,
Alison Jarrett
MSc Global Media and Communications
London School of economics and Political Science
a.e.jarrett@lse.ac.uk
(0)781-415-7749

Survey Questions

General Questions

1. In which country were you born?
2. Can you briefly describe the community you grew up in?
3. What [or who] first inspired you to create a site?
4. What are three main topic areas of your site and why are they so important?
5. How much time do you commit to maintaining your blog or site?
a. Do you think it’s too much? Not enough? Why?

Practicing Islam

6. Where/who are the top three sources you go to for religious guidance?
7. What do your parents/family members think of you keeping a religious blog/site?
8. Is there anyone you would not want to read your blog/site?
9. What things are you careful about when writing?
10. How has having a blog/site influenced your beliefs? Have they been strengthened? Weakened?
11. In what ways does your blog/site represent you as a person?

Being British

12. Imagine a young, British non-believer visits your site. What is his/her impression of your content?
a. What do you want him/her to think?
13. If a non-believer misinterprets your content, what, in your opinion, is the cause of the misunderstanding?
14. How important is it to have meaningful dialogue with people of other faiths?

And finally, some technical questions

15. Where did you first learn to create web pages?
16. Would you consider yourself part of a blogging community?
a. If so, how do you know it’s a community?
17. How does your blog/site compare to others technically?
18. What kind of feedback do you get on your site?
a. Who do you get it from?
19. Do you ever get criticisms, and if so, what does that feel like?
20. How often do you write about other online content (i.e. articles, videos, forums)?
a. Do other sites mention your content?
21. How has having a blog/site changed the way you read online content?
22. Do you think it’s a good thing that anyone can produce content?
23. If you weren’t blogging, what would you spend the extra time on?
24. And one last question: What has surprised you most about having a blog/site?
Thank you for your time and have a beautiful day!