Blogging sensation

Veronika Nocky was pleasantly surprised earlier this month to discover that a post she had made on her personal blog had become a viral sensation, garnering thousands of hits per day.

The post, “20 signs you’ve been in Tel Aviv too long,” had caught the attention of local media as well as Tel Aviv dwellers, fans and admirers.

The 27-year-old Nocky, originally from Sweden, has been living in Tel Aviv for the past five years. She was inspired to create a personal blog last summer, which she titled Bubble Perspective, to share her life in Tel Aviv and combat sentiments about Israel she was seeing around local and foreign media.

“I originally started the blog in the summer during the latest conflict in Gaza, because I was feeling very fed up with everything that was being written about Israel,” she says.

“People were pointing fingers, blaming each other and only fueling the conflict. I really felt the need to write something that wasn’t pointing fingers and was pro-peace. Then I thought I wanted to have this blog to write about my perspective from Tel Aviv, not only related to the war, since there are so many other aspects to Tel Aviv besides conflict.”

She says the attention paid to the post began when her Israeli boyfriend, whom she met while traveling in Australia and is the reason she came to Israel, shared it on a Facebook page for Anglos living in Tel Aviv, called Secret Tel Aviv.

“It spread very quickly after that. The attention came as a surprise for me. At first I was excited when I got 50 views, and all of the sudden I had 45,000 in one day,” Nocky says.

Nocky says she thinks the attention came because other Tel Avivians, both foreigners and locals, can relate to the items on her fun and light-hearted list.

For example, No. 13 on the list is: “You know the names of all the beaches and which one to go to.” In a short explanation under the item, Nocky explains that those who frequent the beaches of Tel Aviv know which are best.

Other such relatable items include No. 5, “You own a dog,” a popular and common sight around the city, and No. 9, “You know how to exit Dizengoff Center through the same door you entered it.” The popular mall is notorious for being built in a complicated and confusing design.

No. 1 on the list is, “You use the word yalla for every occasion.” In her explanation, Nocky says the slang word, meaning “hurry up” or “let’s go,” is taken from Arabic and is an overused expression in daily encounters.

The cheerful compilation, inspired by a similar post Nocky saw on a Swedish blog, exemplifies the cultural blend that tends to happen to a foreigner after living in a new country for a certain amount of time.

She explains the name of her blog, Bubble Perspective, as signifying the quintessential Tel Aviv sentiment that those who live in the city are in a “bubble,” and are less integrated into the rest of the country.

Blogging is not her full-time profession, however. Nocky is a student at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya and studies psychology. She says her passion for living in Israel’s younger, urban center is what motivates her to share her thoughts from the White City on her blog.

“Tel Aviv is such a fun city to live in, mainly because it’s so small in size and still has so much to offer. You get a mix of small-town and big-city feeling, because after a while you recognize everyone here, and you can be friends with anyone,” Nocky says.

“There is something going on here every day, there is always somewhere to go and something to do, and everything is close by. The beach is a five-minute walk from my apartment, and there is a huge variety of bars, restaurants and cafés everywhere. I also love to go running in the park, or go with my dog to one the many dog parks in the city.”

She says she hopes to continue blogging and using it as a platform to express her views.

“Even though school is taking most of my time now, I definitely hope to be able to keep blogging every now and then, regardless of how many people read it or not. I love writing, and sharing my views and opinions.”

Yet not all the views and opinions Nocky says she reads online are positive – and she strives to change that.

“The aim of my blog, regardless of the topic, is to not be one-sided, and to not fuel further hatred and conflict in the world, but to focus on life, on seeing the big picture, and making people think or laugh.”

She sees herself as a blogger and representing the city of Tel Aviv in a positive light down the line.

“After my blog post went viral a lot of people wrote to me, or made comments, to say thank you for making them smile. And smiling over a funny post you read might not seem like a big deal, but for me that is the best gift ever. We need more reasons to smile even if they are small,” she says.

“I don’t need many people to read what I write, but even if a few people will read it, and if it in any way can be a source of an interesting thought or a little smile or maybe even a laugh, then I am happy.”

Swedish national Veronika Nocky came to Israel five years ago and has since gone viral, with her Bubble Perspective blog about living in Tel Aviv.