It’s a particularised Africa-centric perspective that’s brought to bear by Tanzanian blogger, Ndesanjo Macha.

The keynote speaker at the Digital Citizens Indaba stresses family, pride, ubuntu traditions:

* We bloggers should be able to explain to our mothers what we do.

* Coming up is the 30th anniversary of the murder of Steve Biko, a man who said: “I write what I like.” That’s blogging.

* Social media and open source are very African – sharing thoughts and ideas in public space. San people painting on rocks were the bloggers of their time. Wikipedia is very African – collaboration to produce knowledge.

“These ideas are not new to us,” said Macha.

Great points, accentuating the positive.

But let’s not overlook some historical traditions (incidentally, not exclusive to Africa) that need some discontinuity!

Gender roles limiting women’s involvement for one – something that still has repercussions in the blogosphere. We need an all-rounded analysis if we’re to move forward.