syriastew.com

Syria Stew has researched everything we need to know about the people who might be interested in our site. We have found out what readers do for a living, what topics interest them, where they’re from and how they communicate with one another. Feel free to browse the pages below to find out what we’ve learned about Syria Stew readers.

WHO

Many potential readers of Syria Stew exist, from university professors in Oklahoma, to young Arabs in Internet cafes, to diplomats in embassies around the world. An interview with a fellow Syria blogger, Joshua Landis, was very revealing about my potential audience. Landis said after three years of blogging, his site now averages about 2,000 visits a day from “highly educated” readers. He is now in contact with people working in intelligence, the state department and in diplomacy who read his blog regularly and participate in discussion generated by his blog entries. These high-level professionals turn to places like Landis’ website because they can quickly find all the latest news and analysis about Syria in one place. Landis’ dedication over the last three years has built his “brand” as an “expert” in Syrian issues.

Aside from diplomats and intelligence employees, I have identified other professionals who may be interested in Syria Stew, including professors of International Relations, Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies, and Middle Eastern Studies/Arabic Language. Additionally, Syria has one of the highest numbers of archeological excavation sites of any country in the world, and the country is flooded with teams of archeologists and anthropologists. Human Rights activists and aid workers work in the country and are active in online discussions centering on Syria. They are a potential group to link into.

On the flip side, students of these various professions may also be interested in a site like Syria Stew. Many Western students of Arabic, anthropology/archaeology and Middle Eastern studies are now studying inside Syria and have even started blogs about their experience. Tapping into this community would be a key way to generate traffic to Syria Stew.

I also spoke with an anthropologist who is fluent in Arabic and does consulting work for various non-governmental aid agencies throughout the Arab world, including Syria. She said it is time-consuming to find news about Syria before traveling there and a site with daily news bulletins would be helpful. It is crucial that professionals traveling to Syria keep abreast of the latest political situation. Syria Stew could become a trusted source for a multitude of professionals.

Travelers are another group interested in news about Syria. The country is becoming a popular tourist destination, but little information is available about the realities of getting to Syria and what to expect. There is an active discussion thread on lonelyplanet.com about travel to Syria - another potential audience for Syria Stew. I am thinking of adding another section to my site - “Travel to Syria,” so I may interest this group of users.

Syrians and Arab nationals from many Middle Eastern countries are currently engaged in online discussion about Syria. Young Syrians are hungry to participate online, and want news from outside of their country about their country, as the media inside Syria is restricted. Blogging has become popular in Syria in the last few years, and many young Syrians and Syrian expats living in the west have their own blogs. They could also be potential readers of Syria Stew.

WHAT

The content interests of my potential audience center largely on current events and foreign relations between Syria, Israel, Lebanon and the West. One of the biggest online “hot topics” is Syria’s relationship with the United States, which appears to have thawed a bit after two years of isolation from American officials. Syria’s influence in Lebanon is another active topic. Lebanese and Syrians talk with one another online- often heatedly - about this topic. Much attention is paid to Israeli-Syrian relations. The two countries have remained at war since the late 60s, when Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria. The two have had minor skirmishes off and on ever since, the most recent being a mysterious Sept. 6 Israeli air strike on a Syrian military facility. Peace in the Middle East is arguably the most chatted about topic in these online forums, and the Syria - Israel issue gets a good amount of discussion.

Human Rights in Syria is another huge interest of people online. The Internet arrived in the country a few years ago, and there are now 100s of Syrian bloggers and tens of thousands of Syrians who use Facebook and other social networking sites. Many of these bloggers have faced persecution in Syria for their online activity, and human rights activists and Syrians themselves are now using the Internet as tool of political activism and to get the word out about people who have been arrested or imprisoned.

The Internet itself has served as a place for people to get information about Syria. There are a couple sites that people turn to for dependable Syrian news and analysis, one being Josh Landis’ website Syria Comment. The other is Creative Syria, an online forum for bloggers who focus on Syria. Global Voices online provides another outlet for news of Syrian bloggers. It collects posts from Syrian bloggers (and from the rest of the world) and gives people a one-stop shop where they can go to see ALL activity on Syrian blogs.

From the discussions I’ve read, many still rely on traditional media for Syrian news. They will read a wire story and then go comment about the news online on their blogs or the few sites I’ve already mentioned. Diplomats have niche print magazines like Diplomat and bi-monthly news emails called the Diplomatic Pouch. Aid workers and Human Rights Activists will read IRIN.org, the news outlet of the United Nations. Travelers turn to Lonely Planet guidebooks, but still end up having many questions. It is unclear where students find information - probably an assortment of wire stories and blogs.

HOW

The professionals and students I’ve mentioned - professors, anthropologists, diplomats and aid workers etc. all have professional organizations and conferences where they meet and share information. Syrian expats living in the states have two big organizations, one called the Syrian-American Relations Council, the other called the Syrian-American Congress. Both meet regularly and one is based in Chicago. There is also the Chicago-based Chicago Council on Global Affairs, which regularly hosts discussions centering on the Middle East. For students, there is the Syrian Studies Association, based at Wayne State University in Michigan. These organizations appear to be a primary way in which people inside the U.S. communicate about Syria, and there are many more organizations which I have not mentioned.

A good portion of these people will discuss issues online at sites like Syria Comment, Creative Syria and Global Voices. Many will leave comments in comment boxes on a single news story on a news web site, and start a mini-thread. But it still seems like there is room to develop a CENTRAL meeting place for people interested in engaging in longer-term discussion about Syrian news, foreign relations, issues, and even travel. By reaching out to all these organizations and existing online communities, Syria Stew could be that clearing house.