Mark Kaigwa is a Kenyan communications consultant working with brands, businesses and nonprofits across Africa helping them use media across mobile and web technology to impact Africans. He blogs at mark: my words. Collins Mbalo (CM): Tell us a little bit about yourself, who you are and how long have you been blogging or interested in the social media space? Mark Kaigwa (MK): I've been involved in digital projects in a number of capacities over the past 5 years. I joined Twitter in '08 among other social networks and grew my interest from a passive recipient to an active participant of social media in Africa. Now I work as a consultant across traditional and new media. I've been blogging for over 4 years now as well. Mark Kaigwa. Photo by Suzanne Lehn (@osusanna) CM: You recently served as a judge in the inaugural bloggers association of Kenya (BAKE) Awards, is there anything in particular you would like to share about the blogs, the content, the readership and the public response? MK: I was honoured to serve as a judge and thank the team at the Bloggers Association for the opportunity. I must say that the quality of content nominated was outstanding. There were undiscovered gems that I believe will become shining lights in the blogosphere in the months and years to come. The rest of the judges would agree with me in saying that the content excelled in variety, language, character and creativity. Happy to have been part of a process to bring that to the spotlight in one of Africa's growing hotspots of technology. CM: As a content creator do you follow any blogs and or maintain a policy as to which types of blogs to follow? MK: I certainly do for my work at Afrinnovator and AfricanDigitalArt respectively. Not to mention guest posting and doing columns for a range of online publications. With this in mind I follow numerous blogs and authors across the web across a range of interests. I think it would be difficult to do this without also taking part in using a social bookmarking service. For me I use Diigo, Delicious and ifttt. This way whether or not I subscribe to a blog I'm able to revisit why I picked that piece of writing or content and use it or cross-reference it later. Interests range from innovation, management consulting, business, design, leadership, African film & animation. CM: There are a lot of new blogs coming up of late what is your take on their content, appeal and or relevancy in the Kenyan context? MK: I think the intent is in the right place. We should stimulate and motivate more Kenyans to turn into consumers more than creators. CM: Has corporate blogging come of age in Kenya? MK: Definitely not. It hasn't even set itself on the starting line, in my opinion. Companies have been quick to rush into social media when for some you'll find that they're not even well established in search engines. Priorities in digital communications are warped and expectations can be unrealistic in terms of what a business will get out of interacting with customers. Blogging is a powerful tool for business and lead generation and yet I'm surprised most digital consultants are quick to build Facebook pages and Twitter accounts as opposed to making websites that convert prospects to consumers and evaluating what social means to the business as a whole. CM: Blogging Incumbents versus Newcomers: has there been a significant change in the manner of blogging in the two groups and who best reflects the spirit that the Kenyan blogging fraternity should embrace? MK: I'd say it's a good mix at the moment. Movements like POWO (Poets and Writers Online) are doing a great job of bridging the gap between the two and getting established voices and people who've maintained the elusive consistency behind top bloggers to share their work, ideas and give practical advice to up and coming bloggers. I did a session where I advocated for “lazy man's blogging” which was how I referred to the quick-and-dirty blogging I would do with images, text and video on my Posterous blog. That's an example of taking all the misconceptions I had about blogging and giving the practical aspect in a simple way to an audience of new bloggers. CM: Do you believe that there is need for a bloggers’ code of ethics? MK: I believe the entire discussion on public disclosure is one yet to be had and there's plenty of questions as blogging gains prominence in Kenya that need to be addressed. The code of ethics goes beyond just disclosure to set a clear standard for bloggers as they interact with brands, businesses and communications agencies. If someone has a conflict of interest, is being paid or receiving gifts or gains from a source, they have an ethical imperative to declare that to their audience and the public.