Hi Everyone

It is my great pleasure to introduce myself here as a blogger. My name is Suran Maharjan, currently working as an Executive Director in Xplore International. I have done my Bachelor of Arts in Social Work, and Diploma in Development Leadership so far and looking for a cool master degree. I’m pretty much interested in Social Media, and have done some of the works under this domain. I was thinking of writing blog about Social Media for Development from a while, but was not able to do because of my own schedule. I’m hereby starting blog on this issue. I hope you will like it.

In general, I’ll share information, news, stories, links, etc. However it depends upon the information that I want to share. Your suggestions, comments are always welcome.

Since this is my first blog post. I would like to start with the introduction of the issue.

“Social media is best understood as a group of new kinds of online media, which has most or all of the following characteristics: Participation, Openness, Conversation, Community and Connectedness” (Mayfield, 2008, p.5). Social media also could be considered as easier, faster and cheaper online media where users can easily participate and contribute. One example is Web 2.0, which is a free or a low-cost interactive web-based service, helps people to share information and collaborate online more easily than with earlier tools. Web 2.0 may provide the tools for all of us to communicate, empower, collaborate and create useful networks (IMARK, 2009), and could be a new tool of social change.

Web 2.0 applications and social media could be used for many purposes of development. These kinds of applications are now used by non profits for various purposes such as sharing best practices; creating interest-based social networks; collaborative writing; online learning; sharing content including audio, video, publication and images, etc. In this globalized and interdependent world, internet and internet-based technologies have become part of people’s lives especially in developed countries; whereas in a developing country like Nepal, they are perceived as a new challenge rather than a new opportunity.

References

Mayfield, A. (2008), What is Social Media? An e-book by Anthony Mayfield from iCrossing, UK: iCrossing, Retrieved September 4, 2009, from Icrossing

IMARK, (2009), Web 2.0 and Social Media for Development, Lesson 1, Unit 1, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Retrieved September 4, 2009, from IMARK