Hits counter at KSB has just passed the half a million mark. We take this opportunity to thank all our loyal readers who continue to enjoy stories and other items at the blog. These readers are the real forces who have been driving traffic at the site. The next vote of thanks goes to our Network of agents who have been picking the stories and reporting them to the control tower. These loyal agents are the “cogs in the wheel” of information at the blog despite their glaring invisibility.
There is a group of loyal commentators who have been filling the gaps in the stories as they roll. Since the introduction of comment section, traffic at KSB has increased considerably. At some times, key updates are done by commentators although these updates have, at times, contained “an overdose of details”. Many comments have had to be edited. We hope that the responsible use of this facility will continue to be observed and that people’s reputations will continue to be protected by commentators as per the law.
Obviously, there are readers who are happy with KSB while there are others who gnash their teeth and pray that KSB folds. This is democracy and there is little we can do about it. The central issue is that the growing traffic at the blog is a sign that KSB is of interest to different readers who come here for different reasons.
There are those who come for information about Kenyans in Stockholm, others to pass time while others come to follow scandal. All these readers have a right to be here and what we can say is that continue getting your fill when my fingers continue to run on the key board.
Occasionally, I get into debate by contacts about blog content especially at social gathering joints. Just like many Kenya-Stockholmers, I am not available at every function because of my rather busy schedule but it is always good to listen to what readers think, not through the comments but face to face, man to man or, if you like, man to woman, man to lady or just at a man to girl level.
I must not forget readers who have been very instrumental in changing the face of KSB by quietly advocating for a broadening of the subject matter without allowing the blog to go outside the scope of Kenya-Stockholm matters. These are readers who love KSB and, although they don’t report stories, they try to improve it in their small ways and I have been listening. They are a productive and imaginative core of fans who believe that KSB is a good idea which could be improved. To all of them, I say thank you very much for your input.
Paparazzi Pictures of Kenya Stockholmers
Others have been asking about what happened to the “Momentpix”. It’s all about the time I can spend at the blog every day. An archive of the momentpix exists at the blog but there is no link. I am working on it and soon, the pictures will be available for download by their owners and other admirers.
As readers begin the journey towards the “1 million hits”, KSB will remain open and democratic at all levels. Kenya-Stockholmers are not the only people with scandals. The truth is that scandal is universal and the Swedes have well established newspapers (like Aftonbladet or Expressen) to cover Swedish scandals with even deeper details that would make KSB look like a child’s play thing so don’t get stuck wondering about petty Kenya-Stockhokholm scandals at KSB. This does not mean that KSB will soon become a kinda KS-Bladet as some people have posited.
In fact, a reader was proposing a link that could feature a continuous summary of Swedish scandals in the media to balance the Kenya-Stockholm ones. It looks like a good idea but the risk is that there are too many scandals involved and if they are to be focused here, KSB would lose meaning by becoming a duplication of Swedish media reports. Scandals here cannot match the Swedish ones so there is no contest. Nevertheless, the proposal remains interesting and will continue to be on the table for consideration on a limited scale.
In any case, scandals at KSB are not just tiny but petty. In fact, they could pass for “cheap gossip”. Interestingly, whenever there is a “scandal”, more and more readers get hooked up while the comments normally reach “fever pitch”, a sign that scandal is always “top of the pops”. This tendency is not new because in Media politics, it is scandal that actually sells and it is routine for editors to buy exclusive rights to scandal purely for profit.
The Paparazzi industry thrives entirely on scandal. KSB has been, at some points, approached to take in “Paparazzi pictures” of Kenya-Stockholmers but we have refused for two reasons. One, KSB is not a “scandal blog” and two, the blog adheres to “Kenya moral standards”. This limits what can and what cannot be published here. The following example could suffice.
You go to a Kenya-Stockholm Party and get extremely zonked. You start to doze off at a corner as people rock on the dance floor. An enemy sneaks and takes a picture with a tichital then mails it for publication at the momentpix. What do we do?
Another example: You break up with your girlfriend and either of you had some “dirty pix”. Thirsting for revenge, you send them in anonymously, claiming that the Kenyan chick is engaged in prostitution, an act, which you think, should be exposed. We don’t engage in that kind of bizz in the name of scandal.
On the whole, readers are encouraged to view this site as a point of information and entertainment. KSB does not seek to undermine, scandalize, destroy or even disparage anybody. That having been said, I hope that you will be part of the one “million-man match” that is already underway. Each and every time you come here, you make your contribution!
Okoth Osewe
About the Author
Osewe, congratulations on hitting the half a million mark. You have survived numerous plots to take KSB down through empty threats because you are steadfast in your reporting. Good thing is that you uphold the basic blogging/writing ethics, something that your sworn blogging foes don’t do.
The comments section is the best thing ever at KSB and those who once claimed you were undemocratic got egg on their faces when you opened up and this resulted in their social downfall.
All in all, KSB is the place to be basically due to your writing talent which is original and you know how to spice up the contents in a story to keep the reader smiling.
I look forward to the one million mark through genuine ways and not using fake means as another blogger elsewhere did last year. KSB juu sana!
KSB: Thanks for your compliments. I believe that anybody who can read and write can blog. The challenge is in selecting a niche and mastering the sustaining power to keep things running. I would be happy to share my skills with like minded Kenyans while I view blogging more as a personal hobby than a competitive past time. A fertile imagination and a streak of creativity are some necessary ingredients in the business. From my experience, originality is what sells.