Muti is developed by a South African (Neville Newey) who resides in the US. He developed it as a platform for Africans to highlight news and stories around Africa that would be of interest to other Africans. I have noticed that it is primarily being used by South Africans and want to make sure everyone knows that this is a continent-wide platform.
I talked with Neville about this at some length, since I wanted to be sure that I had the creators vision in mind when writing this. If you don’t want to read the rest, here is my message: non-South Africans need to start using Muti in order for it to reach its full potential.
The first problem: the domain
Muti is found at http://muti.co.za – a South African domain. Thus, news articles written and bloggers live under the general assumption that it was made primarily for just South Africans. Unfortunately, Muti.com was not available, and Neville took the closest he could get. (The sellers want some astronomical figure for the domain, that for a free service run by one guy in his spare time, cannot be afforded)
The second problem: South Africans are more active
I’m in contact with many bloggers around Africa each week. By and large, the most active blogging comes out of South Africa. I’d like to see a rundown of all blogs by country in Africa to make sure I’m right, but I wouldn’t be surprised if 20%+ are from South Africa. It makes sense that there are more South African stories on Muti – it’s not a knock on them at all, I’m glad to see everyone taking part.
What I don’t understand, and what I hope will change, is that there are many many outstanding African bloggers that don’t take part in this free platform. There is nothing stopping them from submitting news stories and blogs from their own countries.
The Challenge
If you write a blog about Africa, or you read a news article or blog post about something interesting in Africa, post it to Muti. Share it with everyone else. Don’t standby and let one demographic take ownership of a platform that belongs to all of Africa.
Finally, I know that there are a few South Africans and non-South Africans who do post to Muti, so please understand that I’m generalizing in order to make a point.
February 14, 2007 at 11:42 am
Hash, well said. I have been wondering so too. I try promoting and using muti daily. BTW, the 2nd highest traffic this past two weeks on African Path is South African.
February 15, 2007 at 12:54 am
What is the highest Josh?
February 15, 2007 at 10:39 am
Just discovered your blog. Being a tech worker who is originally from SA, you discuss many things close to my heart. And I love what you’ve done with Cutline. I will definitely be dropping by from time to time.
February 16, 2007 at 12:04 am
Hi Hash – message received – have started using Muti and will promise to try and check it a couple of times a week:)
February 16, 2007 at 6:01 am
Thanks Sokari, I was hoping more active bloggers like yourself would take ownership of the platform, right along with the other active users. Good stuff.