Write A Blog Post For Democracy & Civil Society and Win An iPad 2

The year 2011 was one hell of an year. It was  the year when people woke up and fought for democracy and for their rights. It was the year when Indians got together to fight against corruption, when the Arab world saw a new wave of protests – all for the good. It was the year when social media took a new turn towards social activism and acted as a tool for change.

Here is your chance to make use of this tool and express  your views on civil society and democracy, and stand the chance of winning an iPad 2. Youth Ki Awaaz is getting along with the American Embassy, New Delhi, to organize Blogocracy, a blog-a-thon to get bloggers from North India (the regions under the purview of the American Embassy, New Delhi) to build chatter around issues that matter.

Being a part of this contest is easy. You must write a blog entry of 300-1000 words with your own perspective on one of the three topics:

• What does democracy mean to me?
• The many ways we are alike: American and Indian democracy
• Rule by the people: how civil society makes democracy tick

Your post must be written on your own blog. Whether you are an experienced blogger with a following, or a beginner who wants to be heard, your entry must be hosted on your own blog site. If you’re a first timer, set up an account on any popular blogging site, and write, write, write.

Once you have written your blogpost, please submit the link of the same at blogocracy@youthkiawaaz.com in the following format:

Full Name:
Street Address:
City:
State:
Email:
Mobile number:
Age:
1-2 Sentence summary of your blogocracy entry:
Link to your blog:

After mailing your blog post to blogocracy@youthkiawaaz.com, please post a link of the same on our Facebook page and tweet the link to us on Twitter @YouthKiAwaaz with the hashtag #Blogocracy.

After we receive your blog entry and confirm that it meets the criteria, we will post the link to your blog on the SPAN.state.gov and YouthKiAwaaz.com website, where all our visitors can link to your blog. We reserve the right to remove our link if your blog posts offensive material or items that violate our terms and conditions.

All blog entries will be judged based on analysis of the topic, creativity, and originality of thought. The selection board will consist of U.S. Embassy officers and civil society leaders. The best entry will win an iPad and will be published in SPAN magazine during our special democracy and elections issue. Two runners up will receive cool prizes. Winners will be announced on or before March 13.

Blogocracy, for now, is limited to residents of North India. You must live in any of the following states: 

Bihar, Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, or Uttarakhand.

You must be over the age of 16 to participate.

The blogs can be in either English or Hindi

All blogs will be checked for plagiarism. If any portion of your blog has been copied (yes, even from Wikipedia!), it will be disqualified from the contest.

Last dates to send your link is 20th February, 2012.

You can know more about the contest and its guidelines at http://youthkiawaaz.com/blogocracy/

Feel free to drop any queries in the comments below 🙂