The Struggle to Remain Relevant
If you’re like me and launched a blog during the heyday of the blogosphere – back in the early 2010s, when Twitter and tweet-ups reigned on high – you’re probably feeling like a fish out of water these days. I know I am. Assailed from every direction by Tiktok accounts, followers in the tens to hundreds of thousands, fancy reels, and a lexicon I can’t even decipher, I feel like a helpless fixture from the past harkening to a day when words were once swords and readers tuned in to validate our self-appointed journalistic endeavors. I started Beirutista in the summer of 2012, drawing inspiration from the prolific profiles of BlogBaladi (Najib Mitri), Gino’s Blog (Gino Raidy), Ivy Says (Dana Khairallah), and Plus.961 (Rami Fayoume). I had recently transplanted to Lebanon only a year before, and I ardently felt a need to document my adventures in the motherland as somebody who grew up abroad yet identified strongly with Lebanese-ness. My lens was unique, and I was eager to share it with ...