Popular Arab Blog Has Near-Death Experience

Arab bloggers held their breath waiting for an announcement on the fate of popular Arab blog aggregator Dwwen. After a bit of uncertainty, the all clear was given and it is business as usual for the site which brings together Arab bloggers, writing posts in Arabic and English, under one roof.

Site developer Jordanian blogger Tariq Abu Zaid announced that yesterday was the last day for the site. He wrote [Ar]:

سيتم إغلاق موقع دوّن بتاريخ 15/6/2008 لعدم قدرتنا على الاستمرار في العمل في الموقع مع غياب الدعم المادي.
يرجى من جميع من قامو باستخدام الويدجت او اية ارتباطات مع موقع دوّن القيام بحذفها لأنها لن تكون متوفرة بعد 15/6.

جزيل الشكر لكل من قدم الدعم لموقع دوّن.

"Dwwen will be closed from June 15, 2008, due to our inability to continue working on the site in the absence of financial support. We call upon all those who have used our widgets or linked to us to delete the links as they will not be available after that date. Thanks to all those who have supported Dwwen."

Hala, from Jordan too, was one of many bloggers to express their dismay. She wrote:

صباح اليوم، كان أول موقع زرته هو دوّن، ليس فقط لأتابع آخر مستجدات المدونات كما اعتدت دوماً، بل أيضاً لأعرف إن كان هناك أخبار جديدة حول توقف الموقع، وهو الموضوع الذي أزعجني جداً عندما سمعته حيث أن دوّن كان دوماً المصدر الأساسي لمعظم المدونين، ودليل المدونات الرئيسي الذي يتابع المدونون
من خلاله أخبار المدونات من مختلف البلاد

"Dwwen was the first site I visited today, not to follow the latest developments on blogs as I have become accustomed to, but to also learn if there is new information about the site’s closure. This is a matter that has disturbed me as Dwwen has always been the primary source for most bloggers and the main directory for those who follow bloggers and the posts they write from different countries."

The distressing situation was diffused with a simple announcement on Dwwen’s blog [Ar]:

مدونة دوّن تعود للعمل مجددا. تابعوا جديد دوّن هنا.

"Dwwen resumes work. Follow our latest developments here."