It’s not easy to predict but in the coziness of warm bed, I decided to predict how Nepali media, especially in connection with social media, is going to change in upcoming year. Feel free to add your own predictions in comments!
I’m prediction that 2013 will see introduction of mobile news applications (for iPhone/iPad/Android) by mainstream media, more social media integration by mainstream media and more media outlets! Continue reading…
The story of how Twitter users from Nepal found out a misidentification of Mt Everest by NASA in a picture that went viral on web and helped in correction of error. Continue reading…
(to mark the International Human Rights Day)
How you feel if someone says: “Eat as much as you can (before the food is ready)” and when the food is ready, you are told: “That’s enough: you are eating too much.”
That’s exactly what is happening with our rights to freedom of expression and opinion!
Citizens around the world living in democratic countries were guaranteed rights to freedom of expression for long. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, promulgated long ago in 1948 by UN General Assembly, has explicitly stated it in Article 19.
All democratic nations around the world have copied, rephrased/translated and pasted the text in their constitutions. As citizens we’ll thought well we’ve individually rights to freedom of expression and opinion.
We didn’t have a powerful medium through which we could effectively exercise the rights and we were made to believe media is mediating the rights on behalf of us.
But we are being deceived!
The Internet emerged as a powerful medium that every individual around the world could use to exercise the rights to freedom of expression and opinion. When blogging emerged, it was evident. If blogs were difficult to set up and continued, then social media (on internet) is the easiest tool to use to express ourselves. Continue reading…
Dhangadhi Training.
In October and November 2012, I travelled five places to train journalists in use of social media. The training was organized by Equal Access Nepal and funded by UNDP in partnership with the Government of Japan and UNESCO.
The five training venues were: Biratnagar (east Nepal), Balthali, Kavre (central), Pokhara (west), Dhangadhi (far-west) and Nepalgunj (mid-west). Altogether more than 150 journalists attended the two-day residential training – at an average of 30 trainees per venue. Continue reading…
(In October/November, 2012, I traveled around the country to train journalists on use of social media. The training, held by Equal Access Nepal and funded by UNDP’s project, was held in Biratnagar, Kathmandu, Pokhara, Dhangadhi & now I am in Nepalgunj. Each training lasted two days and included around 30 journalists. Here is one of the reading materials I wrote for the training. I will upload some others soon.)
Journalists can use social media to aid to their work as journalist and to improve their professional skills. Here are six things that journalists and their organizations can do with social media to aid to journalistic processes:
The six things discussed here are 1. Seek idea and information, 2. Cultivate sources, 3. Verify Information, 4. Publish / Distribute News, 5. Promote Write-ups / get feedback / measure popularity. Continue reading…
Free the WiFi of passwords
Tweet / Update Status as much as you can
Use the Same #Hashtag
Offer Help
Be Positive
On Saturday, my wife flew to Mumbai and as soon as I returned home seeing her off, I came to knew that Bal Thackeray has passed away. I knew something will be wrong with Mumbai, where the leader was based, and I was already watching televisions and monitoring social media.
My wife was scheduled to land at 10 pm, and the first bad news came at around 8:30 pm. The news said that the pre-paid taxi counters at the Mumbai airport was closed, 100,000 autorickshaws and taxies disappeared from road and public buses were pulled off the street. I was already trying to communicate with a few friends I have in Mumbai to see if anyone would be able to help if my wife is stranded.
While monitoring social media – especially Twitter – I was amazed that how well they served the news. While the mainstream news sites were telling me that the buses, taxis and autos have disappeared, tweeples were telling me that the city was calm and that there are many taxis and autos. Continue reading…
On March 24, Tweet for Cause Nepal (@tfcNepal) celebrated its first anniversary. tfcNepal is a small social media initiative for social change that aims to bring smiles on the faces of the underprivileged by providing them little support. In a year, the initiative succeeded in running five projects (a project = a support worth around Rs. 30,000), including one outside Kathmandu. The initiative is based on the donation provided by its self-declared members.
I am one of around 1,400 proud members of the initiative who provide occasional donation (any amount of my choice). And, it’s relatively successful in crowd-funding its projects and keeping things tied together.
Internet has been the most revolutionary convergence of communication tools. The greatest beneficial aspect of the internet as a communication tool has been the possibility for each and every person with internet access to communicate globally. Communicating to the world has never been as easy as it is now. Loads of services, also collectively known as social media, such as blogs, microblogs, photo/video sharing and social networking allow users to publish information and/or comments on available information so easily that time and again users tend to forget the bigger impact that those information or comments may have. Continue reading…
Banning social media such as Facebook, YouTube or Twitter in offices is not a solution to problems arising from their uses and misuses. Regulating fair use is exactly what’s needed
A few weeks ago, a participant of a small, formal gathering discussing social media and citizen journalism raised a question: “In my classroom, when teachers are teaching, a few of my friends are busy checking and updating Facebook status in their mobile. Is this good?” And he went on to ask: “Why shouldn’t Facebook be banned?”
I have come across many friends whose office completely or partially blocks access to social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The administrators who decide to block the access have a solid reason to do so: That social media disturbs office works as employees spend time, usually too much, on them. They also fear that employees may leak out office information.
When I used to teach college students, I used to ask them to keep their mobiles in silent mode or turn it off and take the urgent calls outside the classroom. It’s an unusual practice among teachers. It doesn’t mean that I promote use of mobile in classrooms. I don’t like students using mobiles in the classroom, or taking a call even outside the classroom, or checking mail or text message or Facebook status when I am explaining something to them. But when they are allowed to keep the mobiles in the classrooms, it’s absurd to be too stern about using them.
The simplest answer to my friend’s question is: “No, it’s not good to check and update Facebook status while in the classroom.” It’s undesirable not only in classrooms, but also in personal or professional meetings.
However, I am against banning of the social media in any office.
WHY BAN DOESN’T WORK?
Banning social media is an extreme step. That however is followed by many institutions and offices. Banning Facebook has become a standard practice in many offices – media, NGOs, private organizations or even government organizations.
But banning social media hardly work. One reason behind this is the growing number of smartphones. Even very basic mobile phones these days supports GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), a technology that enables user to use internet on mobile phones. The best and cheapest use of mobile phone would be to update Facebook status or send tweet (a message on Twitter up to 140 characters). Smartphones have built-in application to use Facebook and Twitter.
The main reason why banning is a bad idea is it distances employees from the latest technological advancement. And, at a time when social media is threatening to be the dominant form of information exchange, and that the global talk is about how social media can be best used for benefits of organizations, banning it is akin to taking a step backward.
Psychology defines human nature as being curious, more so with things that are hidden or banned. Thus, banning social media only leads to more curiosity and use of it outside office. Those in favor of banning social media may argue that they cannot control use of social media outside the office and also that using social media outside office doesn’t affect the performance of the employees.
That’s true but equally true is the fact that banning social media alone doesn’t increase productivity of the employees and those who do not want to work can choose to sit idly or check in other websites for amusements. The risk of office information going outside is not curbed by the ban as the employees can use social media outside office. With ban of the social media in the office, there are increased chances that such information flow goes unnoticed.
Banning social media is a bad choice. The good choice is regulating the social media use by formulating social media guidelines.
SOCIAL MEDIA GUIDELINES
Social Media Guidelines, the set of rules developed by organizations to regulate the use of social media by the employees, is becoming a standard office document. The guidelines defines what an employees can do or cannot do on social media because, as International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies put out, ‘personal conversation within social media networks should be considered public rather than private’.
When writing anything publicly, any organization desires that their reputation, along with the reputation of the employees, are undamaged. While the guidelines encourages use of social media, it discourages using it hampering office works, identifying oneself as employees, putting out office information and writing about colleagues and work environment.
With a guideline, it would be easier for organizations to regulate the use of social media, demand fair use and, if required, take action against the misuse of social media. Without one, the organizations will be helpless when some employees perform undesirable social media activities.
I believe that if we fail to pace along with technological or any other development, it would create a gap, or a digital divide, that at times becomes non-bridgeable. And, in such a scenario, promoting fair use of new technological advancement with proper set of guidelines benefits all.
[This article was published on the Op-Ed page of the Republica national daily]
