Social networks

Social media are web or mobile based platform that enables an individual or agency to communicate interactively and enables exchange of user generated content. Facebook or MicroBlogging sites such as Twitter are example of it.

Key features – Key features of social media are

• Connectedness – It is the ability to connect and re-connect like-minded people or people interested in same topics and domains. Through this media, 24*7 connectedness is possible through a variety of media and access devices including PCs, Laptops, mobile phones etc.
• Collaboration – The connections enable people to collaborate and create knowledge. Such collaborations can be either open or closed. Wikipedia is an open collaboration for an open web based encyclopedia. GovLoop is an example of closed collaboration wherein experts groups contribute on specific policy matters.
• Community – Connectedness and collaboration helps create and sustain communities. These communities can create awareness about various issues and can be used for seeking inputs into policy making, building goodwill or even seeking feedback into delivery of public services.

Need – Usage of social media by governments is increasing due to

• Enhanced Outreach – As the recent world events have demonstrated, social media have emerged as a powerful platform for forming an opinion as well as generating mass support. In India, Facebook alone has over 40 million users each. Even a microblogging site Twitter has about 16 million users. These sites offer an opportunity to reach out this audience at a key stroke. Many of these facilitate access through mobile devices and with nearly 900 million mobile users in India, it offers an unprecedented outreach.
• Real Time engagement – Social Media releases the shackles of time and place for engagement. They can connect policy makers to stakeholders in real time. In recent Libyan crisis, Ministry of External Affairs used social media platforms such as Twitter to assist in locating and evacuating Indian Citizens from Libya.
• Individual Interaction – In tradition forms of media, interaction with individual user is either not possible or is very limited. Social Media platform offers the ability to connect with each and every individual. Such an interaction also enables the marginalized to participate in discussions and present their point of view, thereby improving the political position of marginalized or vulnerable groups. It is specifically useful when seeking feedback on services rendered.
• Managing Perceptions – One of the big challenges for government is to avoid propagation of unverified facts and frivolous misleading rumors with respect to government policies. Leveraging these platforms can help to counter such perceptions and
• present the facts to enable informed opinion making.

Various types of social media are

Platform Type	Description
Social Networking	Social Networking is an online service that enables its users to create virtual networks with likeminded people akin to social networks in real life. It often offers the facilities such as chat, instant messaging, photo sharing, updates, etc. Currently, social networking sites are the most prominent version of social media. Facebook with 800 million users is one of the most well known social networking site.
Blogs	Blogs are descriptive content pages created and maintained by individual users and may contain text, photos and links to other web sites. The main interactive feature of Blogs is the ability of readers to leave comments and the comment trail can be followed.
MicroBlogs	MicroBlogs are similar to Blogs with a typical restriction of 140 characters or less, which allows users to write and share content. Twitter is the most well known microblogging site.
Vlogs and Video Sharing sites	VideoBlogs or Vlogs are blogging sites that mainly use video as the main form of content supported by text. YouTube is the largest video sharing site.
Wikis	A Wiki is a collaborative website that allows multiple users to create and update pages on particular or interlinked subjects. While single page is referred to as “wiki page” the entire related content on that topic is called a “Wiki”. Wikipedia is the pioneering site of this type of platform.