Presentation F L E X

Social Media and Youth Development

FLEXability Training

Tbilisi/GEORGIA

26/03/2010

A little bit about me

My name is Arzu I am from Baku I am freelance regional analyst,

working and writing on a range of different issues- gender, economy, political development, youth, new social media

I contribute to an Italian publication Osservatorio

And I am also an online blogger since September 2008

I have majored in International Relations and Global Politics and currently work at the National Democratic Institute

What do we know about new social media? And what is the first thing that comes to mind?

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But did you also know

New social media offers range of opportunities for our development

What is social media anyway?

Social media describes the online tools and platforms that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences, and perspectives with each other.

Social media can take many different forms, including text, images, audio, and video.

Some of you might also be familiar with the term “Web 2.0”, which basically refers to “second- generation of Web- based services such as social networking sites, wikis, communication tools that emphasize online collaboration and sharing among users”.

Web 2.0

In Web 2.0 “people with no specialized programming knowledge can create their own websites to self- publish, create and upload audio and video files, share photos and information and complete a variety of other tasks. In this new world, Internet becomes a platform for self- expression, education and advocacy that “regular people” can use on their own without having to go to an expert to do it for them”.

In short,

Its all about, you, me and other ordinary people like us using Internet to do different things and creating diverse projects

Its about conversation that is powered by blogs, facebook, myspace and linkedin and many others.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE

So what can new social media offer us? It could be a way for each and everyone of us

collaborate and share information; Talk to others about ideas, causes we are

passionate and care about; You could be anyone you want- publisher, writer,

journalist, artist, filmmaker, photographer or pundit while using social media;

You could even be an activist or anonymous supporter of some cause, or even a philanthropist;

Basically,

It could be an open source for thinking; listening, watching, finding support, or uniting for action

BLOGS - what are they?

They are easy to use and update web sites, which encourage conversations with readers who share similar concerns, ideas, thoughts and what not;

You can write easily about any topic you want, without specialized knowledge;

When you become a blogger, you automatically become part of wider network of bloggers called blogosphere

And don’t underestimate blogs, you could still add videos, photos and audio

“Blogs let you jot down what you think, feel or know and, at the speed of light, publish it to the world. They now cover everything from quantum theory to politics to low- life celebrity gossip and intimate personal confessions. They can be vast publications written by teams of writers, or fragmented jottings from a student pad. They are the most successful, addictive, potent and radical application of all the new technologies and applications spawned by the personal computer”

Did you know

That the total number of blogs is thought to be approaching 200 million (http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article5725644.ece) and its growing as we speak right now, right here;

Types of blogs

BloggerLiveJournalOpenDiaryTypePadWorldPressVoxExpressionEngineXanga

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FYI

When using Twitter, due to limited character space (only 140 characters) there are several websites offering URL shortening

The most popular are: Bit.ly; goo.gl; and tr.im

Microblogging

The Twitter phenomenon- also known as “SMS of the Internet”

Why is it important? Its widely used in the Caucasus and its ranked among

50 most popular websites worldwide- so its not just us :) You can post tweets via your mobile number via short

message service (SMS) It was most popular online tool used by President

Barack Obama, throughout his entire race for publicity;

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In June 2009, in the aftermath of presidential elections in Iran, protestors used Twitter as a rallying tool and as a method of communication with the outside world;

In April 2009, Twitter was used to mobilize protestors in Chisinau/Moldova and the famous #pman hashtag came about, as protestors stormed presidential and parliament building on April 7 QuickTime™ and a

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Video and video blogging

You can make a video, publish it and reach wider audience to get your message across;

Some sites for video sharing are: YouTube, Vimeo, Viddler, Sevenload

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Examples

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tjYoKCBYag

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqHubOFPqv8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzOfLLzQwN4

http://vimeo.com/7079347

Social networking sites

Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, BigTent, Hyves and many others (please visit for more names: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network_service)

Why bother

Integration, building new friendships, extending your network, involvement;

You can become part of the system that promotes news in a new social way;

You can offer alternative means for information gathering and sharing; Example: 10- 15 years ago, when the buyer

was not happy with the product, he/she could only reach out to small groups of people, today however, its thousands if not millions

You all are the future of your respective countries. You all are bright, energetic, enthusiastic young minds. There is so much you could do and achieve. The most important thing is to stay focused, and be creative. You are the change and key to a new/innovative/better world!

Thank you for your attention :)