Workshop on ‘Social Media for Empowerment- Paving the Way for Digital Integration’
Our Correspondent
KOHIMA, MARCH 31
Keeping in view the rising significance and popularity of social media, particularly with the younger generation, Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) New Delhi in collaboration with YouthNet Nagaland on Tuesday organized a day-long interactive workshop on ‘Social Media for Empowerment- Paving the Way for Digital Integration’. The programme, held in Hotel Vivor, Kohima, was held to engage NGOs, organizations, alternative media, bloggers and social media enthusiasts with the aim to facilitate them for self development and to share best practices for shaping the welfare of the society. Delivering the keynote address, Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Mmhonlumo Kikon said social media has a huge potential to empower the people, but, he underscored, the power has to be used responsibly in order to create positive impacts.
He said the social media has become a global tool of empowerment and has proven to have brought about both positive and negative changes. While acknowledging that many Naga youths are engaged in social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter and are communicating constructive opinion, the young legislator feels that many are abusing the liberty of space irresponsibly which tends to have inclination towards anti-social thinking. He emphasized on the need to prioritize issues that are brought up for discussion in social media forums so that other users including peers, intellectuals, policy makers etc can respect one another’s opinions.
Making a mention of the March 5 lynching of an alleged rapist by a mob in Dimapur, Kikon said there are indications that the incident had a direct link to the access of social media. While pointing out that conviction of rape cases in Nagaland rates as high as 72% suggesting that law and order is actually well established in the state, he questioned as to why, then, did the people decide to take the law into their own hands that day.
“The responsibility of the young people who are obsessively indulging in social media has to be checked,” he stated. He is of the view that many young people participating in various debates on social media have the initiative but lack in consistency. As a legislator, he feels that the challenges in debates on governance are unavoidable, however, the quality of the criticisms have to be based on facts, with at least some research done.
“Give intelligent, thoughtful, constructive opinion so that we can all work together and move forward,” he asserted, and further encouraged informed discussions.
To the organizers of the workshop, he said initiating this programme in Nagaland is a big step and he expressed optimism that it would pave way to educate social media enthusiasts.
Sharing his insight on the potential of social media in North East with respect to government policies, Policy Analyst Amba Jamir said the advent of social media has drastically restructured the system of communication in terms of opinions, feedbacks and reviews. He stated that the feedback mechanism that social media presents is tremendous, however, it is necessary to be aware that they are not entirely moderated. He also explained several advantages and disadvantages of using social media by citing examples.
Embracing social media can spur improvement by providing a fast and low cost way for governments to disseminate policy information, attain public feedback and communicate with citizens, he stated, but cautioned that wrong information can spread and multiply rapidly.
He pointed out that though social media has potentials to push through policies, policy makers have to note that opinions and comments on social media are not ‘public opinion’ as there are many who do not use any such medium. He said there should be an understanding that users discuss policy in social media, and the way policy topics are debated can help policy makers assess how their views and opinions should be weighted and considered to inform policy making.
“As a government, do not simply react to social media.. Incorporate and internalize it as part of your basic processes,” he suggested.
Other topics that were discussed during the workshop included ‘Status of Social Media from a National Perspective & Reflecting on How Social Media has been the Reason and Solution for NE at Different Times’, ‘Social Media, Enabler for a Smarter Government & Progressive Society’, ‘The Status and Power of Social Media and How it can be Used best in NE’, ‘International Perspective- Overview on Social Media Worldwide’, and ‘How NGOs and other Organizations can Adopt Social Media as an Effective Tool for Communication and Outreach’.
The speakers were Sunny Sharma (Cloud Evangelist), Yanpvuo Kikon (IT program consultant), Dr. Tali Ao (librarian), Lawrence Miglialo (Barefoot College), and Ravi Guria (deputy programme director, DEF Delhi).
