Beeldvorming Kenia - Een analyse op de waarbenjij.nu weblogs van vrijwilligerstoeristen

Abstract

This research will discuss the perception of Kenya via social media. Many Dutch volunteer tourists in Kenya write on a Dutch weblog www.waarbenjij.nu about their adventures, trips and daily life during their volunteer time. These stories published on the weblog can tell a lot about how people think about Kenya and which image exists and arises about Kenya. The main question of this research is: “What do the waarbenjij.nu weblogs of Dutch volunteer tourists in Kenya contribute to the imaging of Africa? Three images about Africa have been constructed: the media image, the tourism image and the charity image. Aspects of these images are used in order to determine the image of Kenya on the weblogs. The research method is content analysis. It can be concluded that a positive image about Kenya arises on the weblogs, even though lots of negative subjects have been described, such as poverty, malnutrition, Aids/HIV and welfare differences. Literature shows that many people have a negative image of Africa because of the powerful Western media, but the positive stories of volunteer tourists contribute to a more recognizable image of Africa and make sure Africa gets ‘closer’ in minds. De description about the Kenyan population shows that the Kenyan people are very happy and they enjoy life. However, people in Kenya are also lazy and passive through the eyes of the Western volunteer tourist. Positive aspects mentioned on the weblogs are the beautiful African nature, happy people, the weather, wildlife and the positive stories about the volunteer activities. Social media are a special medium and the unique form of the weblogs provides a different image about Kenya. Everyone is free to create a weblog and to share information. Showing emotions, personal feelings and value judgments makes a different image about Kenya, compared to images that arises through newspapers, travel guides and charity commercials. However, the weblogs cannot replace the travel guide, as they contain too little background information about Kenya.