There are at least top ten reasons on why an Indonesian blogger should blog in English. If you run a Bahasa Indonesia blog, like I do, you should have an English speaking blog as well. Here’s why:
1. My English writing skill is not good. I’d like to improve it by writing regularly in a medium where editorial barrier does not exist.
2. English is undoubtedly understood –though not necessarily spoken or written–by many, if not by most, influential people in the world. Hence larger audience, more visibility and influence of some sort.
3. Most internet-literate Indonesians understand English. Using English in my blog, therefore, does not hinder Indonesian readers to appreciate what I’d intend to convey to them, my primary audience.
4. Indonesian voices very much under-represented in the outside world simply because hardly any books, academic publication and conventional media are written in English. Indonesia — a country with more than 240 million population– has a very few English newspapers / magazines / portals and none of existing Indonesian magazines are in English. And hardly any best seller Indonesian books written by prominent intellectuals are written in or translated into English.
5. Among 10 percent of Indonesian internet users, only about 0.4 percent of them are blogging which means if you blog in Bahasa Indonesia you have to be satisfied with that of 0.4 percent readers who does not necessarily read your blog. Less potential readers will lead to less blogging courages.
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