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Baghdad Moves into Cyberspace

In a city torn by nearly four years of bombings, kidnappings, sniper shooting and violence, the citizens of Baghdad have found an ingenious way of meeting with friends and keeping up with some type of social life ? online. While once the internet in Iraq was reserved for computer savvy geeks who used the internet for business or educational purposes, today many people have invested in PC?s in order to keep up with news about family and friends in their own city.

Baghdad was once a thriving and populous city, with many of its social activities taking place outdoors, especially along the banks of the Tigris river during the long summer months. Since the US sent troops to oust Saddam Hussein in March 2003, however, Baghdad has turned into a virtual ghost town at night, due to a curfew on cars after 9 pm. Citizens are afraid of moving around the town, scared that they will be caught between crossfire or become the next victims of a suicide bomber. As a result, people are turning to the internet for social contact, live conference calls with families and friends and other forms of online entertainment.

Even the fact that Baghdadis only have regular electricity for four to six hours a day doesn?t seem to stop them from turning to the internet. Cables attach most middle-class homes to massive generators that supply several houses with power at a time for $10 per ampere a month. Internet cafes have also jumped on the bandwagon and supply access to their satellite broadband hookup for $40 a month.