What Is It Like to Blog? Interview with Muaad Elsharif

Blogging is one of the greatest tools to connect with people in different fields, global and national wise. It has given me the chance to develop and learn from other bloggers and also get their feedback about various articles. This time I am coming up with an interview with one of the greatest Libya bloggers, Muaad Elsharif. He is one of the leading bloggers in Libya and he has been blogging for a long time. His blog https://muaadelsharif.blogspot.com/ is in Arabic and English. Through his blog, he manages to write about big trending topics in Libya and others as well.

When did you start blogging?

I started in May 2012; I’ve been blogging for 5 years now.

Why did you start it?

I started blogging because I wanted to provide solutions for issues I couldn’t find online myself, and then I started to document my learning curve with different tools and operating systems. Now I blog about personal experiences and different life events I’m dealing with. As well as lessons I’ve learned and comments on local events.

Is there an influencer (local or international) blogger whom his work inspired you in your blog?

Not at first, but I’m very impressed with the work of Mrs. Khadija Teri who has a wonderful blog. There is also Tark Saiala and Haythem Almahdi who both had very interesting blogs (sadly they don’t blog as much anymore.

 How much has it changed you? In what ways?

Blogging has changed me personally. It helped me improve in many ways. Blogging in English helped improve my writing skills. I now understand how important is to document life’s events and use them as a reference.

Also, blogging has introduced me to wonderful people from all over the world I would have never been able to reach if it weren’t for blogging!

I know now that while I sit here in Tripoli, I’ve helped people from all over the world find solutions for issues they suffered from, and help shed light on local issues that otherwise be left unknown, and I’ve couldn’t have done that without blogging.

Can you express your blog in one sentence?

"My blog is a journal of the things I learned and experimented with in the past 5 years."

What piece of advice can you give to Libyan blogger or people who are questioning it?

To Libyan bloggers I have to say keep up the good work, unite and network; this digital ocean is far too big for any of us to tackle alone! Most importantly, never stop learning and don’t abandon your blogs! Every single blog matters.

For those who question blogging, I say: It’s easy to be a self-claimed critique and question what others do. But what have you actually done?

If you deem blogging as useless, I would like to hear a viable alternative for our efforts in vain. If that is not available (and chances are it’s not) then I say Blog on!

Finally, I’m honored and thankful to Malak for reaching out to me for this interview, you are doing a wonderful job.