Social media refers to online technologies and practices that allow people to share opinions, information, and build relationships. It involves a combination of technology, telecommunications, and social interaction. Social media is different from traditional forms of communication like newspapers and television in that it is cheap, accessible, and enables almost anyone to publish content. Some key trends in social media include the loss of centralized control over communication, fewer gatekeepers, fragmented conversations across many platforms, pull-based communication where people access information directly, and less predictable forms of journalism with more opinion. Social media is growing rapidly in India with over 92 million accounts and 50 million on Twitter alone.

2. “The “social” in social media implies a conversation. The
difference between social media and the TV is that with the
latter, viewers seldom engage with the programme-makers of
the show that they are watching. Only in very recent times
have programme makers expanded into the world of social
media. Think X-Factor.
What is social media?

3. Social media is a term used to refer to online technologies
and practices that are used to share opinions and
information, promote discussion and build relationships.
Social media services and tools involve a combination of
technology, telecommunications and some kind of social
interaction. They can use a variety of different formats, for
example text, pictures, video and audio.
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4. Social media is different to traditional forms of
communication such as through newspapers,
television, and film.
Cheap – anyone with access to the internet (for example
through public libraries)
Accessible – the tools are easy to use
Enabling – allows almost anyone to do things that
previously were only the preserve of well-resourced
organisations
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5. Megatrends 1 – the death of control
The age of
influence
Big organisations and
companies had a monopoly on
mass communication and got
used to controlling the message
Anyone literate with an internet
connection can self-publish for
free
Hard to control, can only
influence
The age of
control
The old era The new reality

6. Megatrends 2 – Fewer gatekeepers
Many to
many
Manage the gatekeepers
One-way, broadcast model.
Managing reputation =
managing the media.
Less reliance on media: people
get information direct from the
source, and from each other.
New-style comms must reach
beyond media to a complex
interactive model.
One to many
The old era The new reality

7. Megatrends 3 – Fragmentation
A huge
cloud of
interaction
People got most information
from a handful of news media.
Organisations could efficiently
manage (or at least monitor).
Conversations are distributed
wherever people form opinions:
blogs, social networks, YouTube
Separate provider for the
content, and the platform for the
content
A few
centralised
channels
The old era The new reality

8. Megatrends 4 – New web landscape
Pull
communications
The Web was a channel for
pushing out information.
Sites were static e-brochures.
The Web was utilitarian. People
felt neutral about it.
Now, people spend most time
on interactive social media.
The social web is informal,
immersive and emotive.
Web as distribution channel Web as community
Push
communications
Old (web) era The new reality

9. Megatrends 5 – New journalism
Messy and
opinionated
The world of press releases,
news conferences and interviews
was well ordered.
Journalists knew the rules of the
game and were predictable.
Balance, professionalism,
accountability
Huge and distributed.
Everyone can report.
Each sets his/her own rules.
No obligation to be balanced.
Complicated recourse for
inaccuracy.
Opinion dominates content.
Ordered
and
predictable
The old era The new reality

10. How big is social media in the India?
92 million+ accounts
50 million accounts
> newspaper sales
5% of users write 75%
of tweets

11.  After setting up an account on a given platform – e.g. Facebook
or Twitter, I then used the search tools to find people with similar
interests to me. For example:
- Career
- Sport
- Academia
- Campaigns
 For each interest, I was able to build up a small “virtual” network
that looks something like the diagram below
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Everyone within this
network of interest is
connected to each other

12. •
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Responsibly
‘I trust my officers with the powers of arrest and the ability to deprive
you of your liberty. Therefore I am going to trust them to use social
media’
A senior police officer on Twitter.
-That is not to say they are given access to social media without any
training. Social media carries risks. So does life. What matters is how
we manage those risks.
-Part of that training involves you seeking out further knowledge –
enough for you to ensure that you are comfortable using social media.

13. •
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Social media is value neutral; people are not. Bad people
use social media as well as good people. You need to
protect yourself from the latter.
In the UK, the Information Commissioner is the public
body primarily responsible for how people and
organisations use social media, in particular with regards
to data protection.
Please ensure that both you and any young people that
you know read through guidance from the Information
Commissioner at http://www.ico.gov.uk/youth.aspx

14. This excellent short digital video guide was produced by the
the State of Victoria’s Department for Justice in Australia.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iQLkt5CG8I
This gives you an idea of some of the issues organisations to
consider in this new social media world
Later on we will be looking at how you can create your own
social media policy.