Social media tools and platforms offer much potential for citizen journalists and advocacy groups to communicate for social change. By enabling two-way communications, they inspire discussion and debate that can enhance social justice and sustainable development processes. However, it is important to use them in the correct social context as they are not magic wands – they cannot produce instant results or quick fixes.
The challenge for advocacy groups and activists is to find the right mix of tools, engagement methods and messages to inspire social change. Given Sri Lanka’s analog-digital co-existence, they must straddle the two spheres of old and new media. Relative emphasis depends on intended audience.
These were among the key points made during a three day national workshop on "E-Outreach and Engagement: New Media for Strategic Communication in Development” held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from 5 to 7 June 2013.
Organised by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) India and TVE Asia Pacific (TVEAP), the workshop was held at the Nagarodaya Centre, Colombo 8. It was attended by 24 participants selected on an open and competitive basis.
Participants came from diverse backgrounds, representing organisations working on advocacy issues such as community development, disaster management, trade unions, women's rights, human rights, media freedom, ICT policy, and environmental conservation.
This workshop was modelled on a South Asian course that was conducted by CSE in New Delhi in January 2013 but was customised with Sri Lankan content and resource persons.
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The workshop comprised six sessions, viz: Session 1: Engaging stakeholders via new media: potential and challenges Session 2: Blogging as platform for online identity and discussion Session 3: Using social media strategically: engaging audiences; Facebook and Twitter applications, etc. Session 4: Going beyond text: images, videos and infographics Session 5: Making sense of data: analytics and rankings Session 6: The bigger picture: issues of privacy, cyber surveillance, online security |
Each session involved presentations, case studies, discussions, as well as hands-on type sessions where participants – armed with their own laptops – experimented with free social media platforms in real time by going online.
The workshop was conducted by an Indo-Lanka resource team comprising: Amit Baruah, Programme Director Education and Training, CSE; Natasha Badhwar, Journalism Coach at Express Institute of Media Studies and Media Consultant; Kiran Pandey, Programme Director, Information Management, CSE; Nalaka Gunawardene, Director, TVEAP; Nadeeja Abeyasekera, IT & New Media Manager, TVEAP; Chanuka Wattegama, independent ICT researcher and policy analyst; Sanjana Hattotuwa, Founder & Editor, Groundviews.org, ICT researcher and activist; and Keheliya Gallaba, a software engineer.
Amit Baruah, CSE Programme Director, Education and Tranining said: “In today's world, outreach and engagement are critical to both organisations and individuals. The CSE-TVEAP workshop can be termed a success due to the consistently high level of engagement displayed by the participants as well as the planning and execution that went into the course. We believe that all those involved in the workshop were enriched by the process.”
The workshop explored not only the technology choices but also societal and cultural impacts and reaction to new media proliferation in Lankan society. Participants agreed that while connectivity barriers have been significantly lowered in recent years, there still are formidable challenges of producing locally relevant content and sparking off focused discussions online.
Reflecting on the discussions during the workshop, TVEAP Director Nalaka Gunawardene noted: “With over 1.5 million Facebook accounts and an estimated 14,000 Twitter accounts in Sri Lanka (and counting), social media now occupy a significant part of our public and private discourse. The success of youthful satirists like Jehan R – the most popular Lankan on YouTube – indicates how individuals can leverage these with imagination and innovation. New brands and campaigns are being built in unlikely ways.”
Referring to increasing levels of intolerance and hate speech on social media platforms, he added: “In such a charged setting, Lankan activists must carefully choose their words, images and platforms, and stay their course while ensuring personal safety, online security, systems redundancy and exemplary conduct.”
Read his Sunday column on 9 June 2013: Sailing the Stormy Seas of Social Media
Tweets from the workshop (Hashtag: #EOECMB) archived on Storify
List of participants and resource team
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Hasitha Jayathilaka Deepani Jayantha Leon Joseph Nooranie Muthaliph Mohamed Faslan Tharani Ratnavel Chamila Thushar Udan Fernando Ranmalee Gamage Hemamali Perera Jeromy Stellar Dushyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai |
Malaka Rodrigo TheSundayTimes/ SGIT/ FEOSL Tharindu Abeyrathna Bhagya Ratnayake Family Planning Association (FPA) Sri Lanka Buddhika Jayasekara Lakshman Gunasekara Jayani Fernando Vivekananda Premkumar Tehani Ariyaratne Nadhiya Najab Velayudan Jayachithra Manoj Silva Ajith Jayasinghe |
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