Social media: An introduction to practical uses during elections

Sanjana HattotuwaEditor, Groundviews (www.groundviews.org)

what is social media?

• Social media uses Internet and web-based technologies to transform broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many). It supports the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers. (Wikipedia)

new media & technologies in elections

• Blogs

• Social networks (Twitter, Facebook, Myspace)

• Google Maps

• Mobiles: SMS, MMS, Mobile photography and video

• VoIP: Skype

• 3G: HSPA wireless broadband, ADSL

what’s new

• Ubiquity of two way communications

• Addressable peoples, even those who IDPs or refugees

• Election monitoring and campaigning tied to communications and technology

• First stories of violations come from citizens

• Low resolution content broadcast on high definition media

• Content from ordinary peoples juxtaposed with professional journalists

enduring challenges

• Impartial, accurate coverage still vital, increasingly hard to ascertain

• Torrent of information. Trickle of knowledge.

• Post-disaster communications can be unreliable and difficult

• Information of election violence do not mean political parties beha

The use of social media in the US

Source Watch: Crowdsourcing

10 questions: YouTube for accountability

Obama’s election campaign

“Were it not for the Internet, Barack Obama would not be president. Were it not for the Internet, Barack Obama would not

have been the nominee”

Arianna Huffington, editor in chief of The Huffington Post

Obama’s election campaign

The Internet's Role in Campaign 2008, April 2009, Pew Internet & American Life Project

Obama’s election campaign

The Internet's Role in Campaign 2008, April 2009, Pew Internet & American Life Project

Obama’s election campaign

The Internet's Role in Campaign 2008, April 2009, Pew Internet & American Life Project

Obama’s election campaign

The Internet's Role in Campaign 2008, April 2009, Pew Internet &

American Life Project

The use of social media in Sri Lanka during Presidential Campaign 2010

flickr in election campaigns

flickr in election campaigns

facebook in election campaigns

facebook in election campaigns

youtube in election campaigns

youtube in election campaigns

twitter in election campaigns

wikipedia in election campaigns

Uses of social media in election monitoring

online video in election monitoring

facebook in election monitoring

twitter in election monitoring

flickr in election monitoring

twitter to get more perspectives

know your twitter hastags (#haiti)

know your twitter hastags (#slelections)

google maps in elections monitoring

groundviews.org: blogs for information on elections

Producing content

wordpress.com: blogging

ustream.tv: broadcasting via a PC

bambuser.com: mobile phone broadcasting

drop.io: reports through audio

Pulling it all in and keep abreast

Google Reader: a web based RSS reader

Spy: http://spy.appspot.com

Google: Updates from social media

Twitter: (twitter.com/slelections) Aggregation from social media

election reporting toolkit

key points: recap

• New technologies potentially give voice to all citizens

• Be sceptical of new information, but use new media to push and pull content

• Develop media literacy to embrace new technologies

Thank you