1. Social Media for
Development
Lusaka, Zambia
12th June, 2010
Presentation by Ms Chimika Lungu
2. What is Focus Info Initiative
The Focuss.Info
Focuss. Initiative
(www.focuss.info) ,coordinated by the
www.focuss.info)
International Institute of Social Studies in
the Netherlands, aims to promote new
information and communication (ICT)
skills among peers in the domain of global
development research and cooperation.
cooperation.
3. Focus Info Objective
The objective is to improve access to
information, a fundamental human right
that strengthens democracy, and supports
human rights.
4. Focus Info Overall Objective
The overall objective of Focuss.Info
correspondents to the work of UNESCO,
which helps to develop effective
'infostructures', including developing
infostructures',
information standards, management tools
and fostering access at the community
level.
5.
6. Introduction to web 2.0
tools
You will probably wonder what Web1.0 is if
we are now talking about Web2.0
Is this a new version of the World Wide Web
(WWW)?
7. What is the difference
Whereas Web 1.0 is largely static
and focuses on information
dissemination with the flow of
content moving unilaterally from
the producer to the consumer,
Web 2.0 is based on user
centered applications that
promote communication, user
empowerment, collaboration
and social networking.
networking.
8. What has changed
Most of the tools that are referred to as
the Web2.0 have been around since the
80s
It is the intensity and the popularity that
they have gained that is new
9. What has changed
(cont’d)
The Web is no longer a huge library for
information seekers
It is a place where everyone can be a
publisher
Every one can participate equally
10. So what is web 2.0?
Web 2.0 is a new era of electronic, virtual,
online tools and applications which move
beyond static posting, managing and
sharing of knowledge.
Essentially, the Web is shifting from an
international library of interlinked pages to
an information ecosystem, where data
circulates like electrons in atom.
11. About web 2.0 tools
They are easily accessible
They are user friendly – you do not need
to be a Techie
They are bandwidth friendly
They are affordable and mostly free
12. But why do we need such
tools?
Well, Web 2.0 introduces new
opportunities for interaction, collaboration,
networking, and multi-dimensional
multi-
sharing, all activities which are key parts
of work and outcomes within
development, research, agriculture and
other sectors.
13. Who needs web 2.0 tools?
If you have a geographically dispersed
team….
If you want to make your research
process and results more accessible..
If you want to raise awareness
If you want to share knowledge or Speak
out
If you want to collaborate with partners
and stakeholders…
14. What exactly are we
talking about?
Blogs – text, audio, video
Wikis
RSS Feeds
Tags
Bookmarks
Social networking
15.
16. Blog-
Blog- what is it??
A blog- a short hand term that means
blog-
“weblog”
It is an online chronological collection of
personal commentary and links
17. Who’s doing it
A blog can be thought of as an online
journal, and maintaining a blog is as
simple as using an online email program.
18. How are blogs being used ?
There are group blogs, family blogs,
community blogs, and corporate blogs.
LibLogs (library blogs), and EduBlogs
(targeting education) are just some of the
emerging types and uses of blogs
19. How does it work?
A blog can be thought of as an online
journal, and maintaining a blog is as
simple as using an online email program.
20. Why is it significant?
Because blogs engage people in
knowledge sharing, reflection, and debate,
they often attract a large and dedicated
readership
21. What are the dowsides?
dowsides?
Because blogs are often produced and
maintained by individuals, they can
include biased or inaccurate information.
22. Where is it going?
Blogs are proliferating at an exponential
rate. Estimates suggest as many as 50
million people around the world are now
blogging
25. What is RSS?
RSS is Really Simple Syndication
It is the syndication (or publishing) of
web content that
involves 2 things:
RSS feeds
RSS aggregators (or readers)
26. RSS Feeds
RSS feeds are XML files generated by web
publishing software
(XML is a generic specification for
data formats)
RSS feeds provide users (or machines)
with new or updated
web content
27. RSS aggregators or readers
RSS aggregators request and display RSS
feeds
RSS aggregators can be:
Desktop software
(e.g. Feedreader -
http://feedreader.com)
http://feedreader.com)
28. RSS aggregators or readers
(Cont’d)
Web-
Web-based software
(e.g. Google Reader -
http://google.com/reader)
http://google.com/reader)
Other websites
29. How does RSS work?
Website managers make content updates
available as feeds on:
CMS-
CMS-driven websites
Blogs
Wikis
30. How does RSS work
(Cont’d)?
End users subscribe to those feeds
through feed readers
Other website managers syndicate the
same feeds on their own
sites
31. How can we use RSS?
Do two things:
Choose an aggregator/reader
Subscribe to feeds
32. How can we use RSS
(Cont’d)
You can subscribe to web feeds for:
Blogs
Podcasts
Wikis
and more!
33. What are the benefits?
RSS makes it easier to read the Web
We can use it to get information
efficiently
RSS saves you time - you don't go to
sites that haven't been updated
RSS makes online collaboration easier
and cheaper
34. What are the benefits
(Cont’d)
You can actually get the information you
need
About the issues you're interested in
About your profession
About your organisation
35. What are the benefits
(Cont’d)
You can "search the future"
You can track mentions of your
organisation
In the news media
On blogs
You can track issues you're interested in
You can create "team tags" on sites like
del.icio.us and then have team members
subscribe to them to share resources
36. What are the benefits?
(Cont’d)
By making your content available via RSS,
you're allowing other people to discover
you
You can find people
You avoid being a spammer
You can collaborate more effectively
with wikis!
37. Great Resources
RSS-
RSS-related articles and blog posts from
Alex Samuel
http://www.alexandrasamuel.com/cat
egories/rss
http://www.alexandrasamuel.com/rss
tocracy/10steps
Video: RSS in Plain English
http://www.commoncraft.com/rss_pl
ain_english
38. Great Resources (Cont’d)
Why Nonprofit Managers Must Use RSS ...
And How to Start
http://www2.democracyinaction.org/
node/418
My site
http://importantprojects.co.uk
39.
40. Group productivity and
collaboration
The Internet provides access to resources
and information, but it can also provide a
platform for working in collaboration with
other people and organizations.
The applications for collaboration and
communication on the web (social media)
have evolved from simple e-mail person
techniques.
41. Group productivity and
collaboration(Cont’d)
to person transactions, to advanced tools
for working in distributed groups using
multimedia and complex databases for
advanced project management
42. About groupware and
collaborative tools
The term Groupware refers broadly to
social media software applications that
facilitate the interactions of working
groups. The idea behind groupware is to
foster collaboration in the group and make
processes more efficient and productive.
43. About groupware and
collaborative tools
(Cont’d)
With groupware you can provide group
members with more options for obtaining,
changing and sharing knowledge within
the group, especially if you need to work
with groups that are geographically
distributed and cannot meet frequently in
person.
44. About groupware and
collaborative tools
(Cont’d)
There is a wide variety of groupware tools
available on the Internet. Some of the
most advanced tools require expert
technical customization and support, while
others are simple enough for beginners
and are available for free or for a small
fee.
Groupware applications can support
interaction at three basic levels:
45. 1. Communication
Allowing group members to stay in touch
with each other. For example:
Email, Email lists;
Voice mail;
Phone and Voice Over IP (communication
via Internet);
46. 1. Communication
(Cont’d)
Text Chat;
Video chat and Videoconferencing;
Group blogs; and
Web forums.
47. 2. Conferencing
Allowing members to "meet" at the same
time (synchronously) for active discussion.
For example:
Online chat and instant messaging;
Video conference;
Conference call; and
Web meeting.
48. 3. Collaboration
Allowing group members to add, modify
and re-shape each other's work. For
re-
example:
Shared calendars;
Wikis and other shared writing/editing
tools;
Project management tools; and
Online documents.
49.
50. What is Social Networking?
Social media allows us to capture both the
power of one person to act and the power
of many by helping us connect with one
another.
People have been doing this face-to-face
face-to-
forever, in social networks in our
communities or families, where individuals
are connected through relationships.
51. What is Social
Networking? Cont’d
But we were limited to the people who were
geographically near us, or we had the
resources to travel.
Now we can connect online. This is called
online social networking, or simply social
networking.
52. About social networking
sites
Social networking sites are websites that
provide the technology for social
networking, including:
profiles,
discussions,
email,
53. About social networking
sites-
sites-Cont’d
social network visualization tools that
show our connections to other people in a
picture; and
content sharing tools.
Some popular examples are Facebook,
Facebook,
Hi5Networks, Myspace and LinkedIn.
54. Connecting via Social
networks
Social networking for a cause is also
growing, with sites like:
Patientslikeme.com;
Idealist.org;
Change.org;
Networkforgood.org; and
TakingITGlobal.org.
55. Social network’s new
challenges
Social networking sites represent new
challenges in terms of communication and
resources:
56. Social networks’ new
challenges
due to the easy
creation of groups and
possibility of connections on these
overload and sites.
How many people can
competition for we meaningfully
connect with?
people’s attention In areas with high
internet connectivity,
your cause or
organization’s
message might get
lost amongst all the
other social networks.
57. Social networks’ new
challenges-
challenges-Cont’d
because of the
difference in resources
challenges to our available in different
organizational parts of the world:
and personal the well-connected
have access to wide
processes for sources of people and
knowledge data; while
the unconnected do
sharing not.
58. Social networks’ new
challenges-
challenges-Cont’d
challenge to because the
traditional users are in
organizational control of
processes their
participation,
not the
organization.
59.
60. Social Bookmarking
Social bookmarking is a method for
Internet users to share, organize, search,
and manage bookmarks of web resources.
Unlike file sharing, the resources
themselves aren't shared, merely
bookmarks that reference them.
61. Social bookmarking
(Cont’d)
Descriptions may be added to these
bookmarks in the form of metadata, so
that other users may understand the
content of the resource without first
needing to download it for themselves.
Such descriptions may be free text
comments, votes in favor of or against its
quality, or tags that collectively or
collaboratively become a folksonomy.
folksonomy.
62. Social bookmarking
(Cont’)
Folksonomy is also called social tagging,
"the process by which many users add
metadata in the form of keywords to
shared content".
63. Top ten Social
Bookmarking sites
1. Digg
Digg is the most popular social bookmarking
site online. Users submit links to content
they like, and other users comment on
those submissions and add their own
votes (called Diggs) to those links.
64. Top ten Social
Bookmarking sites-cont’d
sites-
2. Technorati
Technorati is typically thought of as a blog
search engine, but users can also save
interesting online content as "favorites"
which other users can access.
65. Top ten Social
Bookmarking sites-cont’d
sites-
3. del.icio.us
Del.icio.us uses tags to allow users to
bookmark and share content they like.
Other users can find that content through
searches on those tags.
66. Top ten Social
Bookmarking sites-cont’d
sites-
4. StumbleUpon
StumbleUpon is very easy to use if you
download the StumbleUpon toolbar when
you register. When you find a webpage
you like, simply click on the "thumbs up"
icon on the StumbleUpon toolbar to share
it with other StumbleUpon users.
67. Top ten Social
Bookmarking sites-cont’d
sites-
5. Reddit
Reddit is the no frills social bookmarking
site. Users submit links they like then
other users vote for them (positively or
negatively). The most popular posts rise
to the front page for everyone to see.
68. Top ten Social
Bookmarking sites-cont’d
sites-
6. Fark
Fark allows users to submit links to content
they like and want to share, but those
links are evaluated by Fark administrators
who determine which links appear on the
Fark home page.
69. Top ten Social
Bookmarking sites-cont’d
sites-
7. Furl
Furl allows users to save copies of web
pages as they appear at the moment
they're saved. That means the exact page
will be available to users to view or share
at anytime even if the original page has
since been changed or deleted.
70. Top ten Social
Bookmarking sites-cont’d
sites-
8. Slashdot
Slashdot is very popular for links about
technology, science or science fiction. If
your blog is about one of those topics,
your submissions should do well at
Slashdot. Users submit content which is
then evaluated by editors before it is
shared with other Slashdot users.
71. Top ten Social
Bookmarking sites-cont’d
sites-
9. Propeller
Propeller is gaining in popularity as an easy
to use social bookmarking site. Users
submit links with tags to make content
easy to find, and they vote on that
content driving popular posts to the home
page.
72. Top ten Social
Bookmarking sites-cont’d
sites-
10. Newsvine
Newsvine's mission is to bring big and little
media together meaning traditional media
sources and individuals. However,
submissions are rated using several
factors including reputation, freshness and
and popularity, so it's difficult for
individuals to get a lot of exposure and
traffic from Newsvine.
Newsvine.
