The processes and outcomes of social media

REPORT ON

THE PROCESSES, VALUES AND OUTCOMES OF

SOCIAL MEDIA

Student Name: CHIOMA NWAMAKA AGWUEGBO

Student ID: AGW10509175

Course Title: SOCIAL MEDIA AS CULTURE

Tutor: DAVE HARTE

Submission Date: 26th November, 2010.

CONTENT PAGE

Introduction……………………….…………Page 2

Evaluation…………………............................Page 4

Recommendation……………………………. Page

Portfolio………………………………..……. Page

Annotated bibliography……………………... Page

References……………………………………Page

INTRODUCTION

All my life I’ve been involved in crafting content for the media, one way or the other. From

an early age I would consume radio, television or print content with my father and have a lot either

commending or pointing out the shortcomings of each of these media. It became such a ritual that by

the time I started studying mass communication as an undergraduate, many a time he would call just

to tell me of something new he had watched, read or listened to.

After graduation I worked as a producer and broadcaster on a couple of radio stations before

becoming a content researcher, scriptwriter and radio drama producer for the BBC World Service

Trust in Nigeria.

My earliest interaction with a social media tool (which I didn’t know it was at the time) was in 2008

when a lot of my friends who had become an audience for my notes and poems on Facebook said I

should get a blog because it would make me look more professional. I did, got me the address

www.chroniclesofthefairygodsister.blogspot.com; problem with that was I soon found out that a lot

of people didn’t love me enough to type in that excruciatingly long URL, plus BlogSpot at the time

wasn’t very easy to comment on. I have since moved to www.fairygodsister.wordpress.com

My decision to study Social Media at Birmingham City University was reached the day I found out

(by accident) that blogs were more than a place to drop interesting write-ups, that Birmingham was/is

a big hub of social media and activities around it, and that there was a way and manner to craft

content to get different things done, and reach different audiences.

This report discusses my earliest introductions to the concepts of Social Media and where I am now

with it. It will also dwell on the effects this course and literature have had on my perception and

current use of social media tools and networks.

EVALUATION

Start from the fact that thanks to visa problems, by the time I resumed I had missed about two

classes and a couple events including the Birmingham Social Media Café.

From the first class, I learnt that culture, whether as art or lived experiences are an expanding

phenomenon, with all its elements constantly expanding, according to Raymond Williams. Perhaps

the influx of information by various collaborators and contributors is testimony to that fact too, even

though not everyone uses social media for positive purposes.

Fast forward a couple of weeks later, Jennifer Jones in her session talked about how media coverage

of the Olympics has expanded from the traditional, ‘professional’ journalists to non-accredited

journalists and more recently, aided by new media and technologies, citizen journalists.

At the Hyper Local Gov. Camp ‘unconference’ the class attended later that day, even though I didn’t

get over the despondency I felt, I was intrigued with Open Data and how a community can use

information released by their authorities to demand and compel efficiency in the public services they

receive. I also learnt about social media surgeries from one of the sessions and I was excited about it

since I was on a high from hearing in class about the effects a group of bloggers in a small town

called Juarez had on make-up giants, MAC. http://www.elleuk.com/news/Beauty-News/mac-and-

rodarte-collaboration-cancelled

Next event? The Multi-Platform Story Telling and Social Capital event at the MAC. High point of

the event was sharing a smile with a classmate because we would relate to a statement credited to

Clay Shirky.

Truly, the things that one person could do five years ago can now be doubled if not tripled by reason

of collaboration by more people thanks to technology. Examples abound in Wikipedia, Twitter,

Facebook, hyper local blogs, and other social media tools.

I heard of Social capital for the first time that day when Helga Henry talked about it.

http://fairygodsister.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/116/

Afterwards my classmates and I held a mini surgery where we discussed the technical and editorial

challenges with blogging, and I built friendships I’m drawing from now, talk about Bourdieu,

Coleman and Becker’s view of social relationships! They have the same underlying principles of

“benefit through participation and membership of a network”, even though their definitions of social

capital differ.

I must confess at this point that like my blog, I was ignorant of the potentials complexities with

Twitter and Facebook and had hitherto used them as just tools to keep in touch with friends I already

had (which is a function but not all they are for). Reading the article on passionate and honest tweets,

I learnt that twitterers use words like television would use pictures. Learning about Soraya Darabi

and how she would research her audience to determine what she would tweet about meant that

twitter could be used as a marketing tool (didn’t know that before) and the kind of people that follow

you are determined by your tweets.

By this time, my confidence levels were rising and I was beginning to enjoy the course and looking

forward to classes.

Then came the Hello Business event that we had to prepare for by reading the Power of Information

review done in 2007. That document was very insightful and gave reasons for some of the things that

I’ve thought about before; for example, the largest websites today (Wikipedia, Google, etc.) are the

ones that bring people together information created by the people who use them. Every time I read a

recommendation done by the panel set up, I said a prayer for my country; because I know that with

the way things are now, even the passage of the Freedom of Information bill (which hasn’t been

ratified yet) will be but another toothless bull dog.

That said, the Hello Business was very useful for me; apart from the sessions I captured here

http://fairygodsister.wordpress.com/2010/11/22/beyond-2010-getting-ready%e2%80%a6-2/, I made

new friends and I’m looking forward to an internship at Ember television sometime next year. The

only issues I had with it is that I still haven’t understood if it was the Beyond 2010, Hello Digital, or

Hello Business event we attended.

The lecture with Jon Hickman shook the foundations of my naivety and ignorance about social

media. Alas, the concept I had considered my genie and the key to unlocking wonders for my career

were punctured by three things

1. Social Capital was academic (and that’s not a problem, I just didn’t know at the time)

2. Even though there was the relationship between social capital and finances (especially in

definitions), there was a lot more to it than that

3. Social capital even had negative outcomes!

http://fairygodsister.wordpress.com/2010/11/20/this-thing-called-social-capital/ was where I ran to to

express my thoughts from that class. It also details the reading I did after that class, because I needed

to understand it; and because I felt like I wanted to personally research before accepting what Jon

said so what happened to me with Helga Henry wouldn’t happen again!

A challenge with all of this learning is that the audience I had built for the blog is not interested in

academic works of the blog and complains that the fun and interesting parts of it are gone. Above is

the latest (and most subtle) of complains I have received about that. I am currently at a loss of how to

explain to them that there is a distinction between the personal articles and the walk towards my

professional development publishing academic articles; I lack the space to express myself in a

professional, scholarly way.

I have since been to another Birmingham Social Media Café and even though I had opportunities to

talk to a number of people about my idea for the Enterprise course, it didn’t fulfil the objective of

getting people to form friendships beyond the safety of their computers and smart phones. Everyone

seemed to talk to only people they already knew, and some point it actually seemed like a sort of

market where everyone tried to push their wares and ideas (including me).

I’ve watched my blog grow from being just a chronicle of events to a foundation that discussions and

debates can be based on; I’ve learnt the value of using hashtags in blogs and on Twitter, and from

Jennifer Jones class on archiving tweets I’m currently archiving tweets for a Nigerian artist whose

album launch a couple days ago trended on Twitter and even though I don’t know yet what we will

do with the archived tweets, I’m excited I did it! http://twapperkeeper.com/hashtag/MI2?

sm=8&sd=1&sy=2010&em=11&ed=26&ey=2010&o=d&l=10000&from_user=&text=&lang=

The Holy Books say something about line upon line, precept upon precept; that’s the way studying

Social Media has been for me. It has moved from me wondering if studying this subject was the best

thing to do, to a gradual comprehension of what this is all about and I must say, I am more confident

than where I was when I first started.

RECOMMENDATIONS

First off I would recommend (and have already learnt) that I should not accept things at face value.

Using my experience with social capital as an example, I have learnt to give a more critical look at

concepts I’m introduced to and challenge them based on personal research or a second opinion

before accepting them as Bible.

On blogging, I should move beyond the theoretical knowledge I’ve garnered on video blogging

(vlogging) and the use of audio to actually using them in a blog post.

I must also strike a balance between academic writings and personal, everyday experiences my

audience was used to. I should either create another blog to cater to academic writing or

compartmentalize the blog to cater to the different audiences.

Finally I would recommend that I need to read a lot more on the concepts of and around Social

Media, and then be more religious with attending events (and using them for the right reasons).

Coming from my background as a late adopter, that will be a good way of catching up with my

peers.

PORTFOLIO OF BLOG POSTS

1. THE HYPER LOCAL GOVCAMP   EVENT

Posted: October 13, 2010 in Blogs from and about school,

http://fairygodsister.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/the-hyper-local-govcamp-event/(519words) and

www.masocialmedia.posterous.com on October 13, 2010.

To start with, I was terrified when I was told my class had to attend the Hyper Local Gov. Camp

event, and with good cause too; before then, I had sat through a class where we discussed Marwick’s

“I tweet passionately, honestly and truthfully” and I felt a little out of place but let’s leave that alone

shall we?.

In discussing that reading, I learnt that people imagine their audiences (whether personal or

professional) and that affects their tweets. That however brings up the argument about authenticity

using the Soraya Darabi (social media strategist for the New York Times) example because if you

study/pre-empt your audience before you tweet, it’s not ‘honest’ anymore.

Again, the discussion convinced me that indeed Social Media could be used to effect changes,

mobilize a people/community to do stuff and even reach out to leaders, a board or the government.

Examples include the Elle/Rodarte controversy http://www.elleuk.com/news/Beauty-News/mac-and-

rodarte-collaboration-cancelled and the Students Union Facebook page gathering students together.

But, I digress.

So we get to this event (thank you @natminter for the ride) and after we settled in, @pigsonthewing

gave a brief introduction of what the event was all about and how the sessions would be divided.

From the board, I picked the sessions in rooms 309, 100, and 312 and I’ll treat them as headings.

309: SOCIAL MEDIA SURGERIES (Nick Booth and Gavin Wray)

This was my best session. Maybe because both facilitators were warm ( whether  you like it or not, it

shows), maybe because they clearly explained what a surgery was about and what you can do with

one, or maybe because I was hungry for more ways of exploring this big phenomenon called Social

Media. If you’re like me, this would be useful. http://www.socialmediasurgery.com/

100: OPEN DATA.

Forgive me for not knowing any names here, and don’t read any meaning into it too! This was a

particularly interesting class because it showed what a government should do (or work towards

doing) to qualify as being democratic. The Open Data session also taught bloggers, journalists et al

how and where to avail themselves of data and how it not only how makes their work richer, but

enables them channel their efforts towards community collaboration in more meaningful ways.

Enough said. opendata .warwickshire.gov.uk/pages/community

312: POSITIVE COMMUNITY ACTION

Again I didn’t get his name, and truthfully, not much else. For me the class was supposed to tell us

how to utilize knowledge gained from sessions one and two, and I didn’t get that (blame me for

going there with a pre-set mind set)! I however liked the gaming console the facilitator was

developing, something about citizens playing as though they were in fantasy land but actually being

real life(almost like the Inception movie, if you’ve seen it)!

One major lesson I took away from it all is this: there are vast opportunities with Social media and

regardless of the limitations peculiar to my country, I’m totally intrigued by it and will grasp all I

can! Did I mention that the cakes were absolutely lovely, almost sinful? And yes, I’m no longer

upset I didn’t do an interview!

Hyperlinks

http://www.elleuk.com/news/Beauty-News/mac-and-rodarte-collaboration-cancelled

http://www.socialmediasurgery.com/

opendata .warwickshire.gov.uk/pages/community

2. SOCIAL CAPITAL AND ME:   HOOKED!

Posted: October 25, 2010 in Blogs from and about school,

http://fairygodsister.wordpress.com/2010/ 10 /25/116/ (803 words) and www.masocialmedia.posterous.com on

October 21, 2010.

My people say that when a child goes to the same market often, he is soon able to find his way there

with his eyes closed.

Now I can’t say I can find my way around this Social Media market with my eyes closed (yet), but at

least I’m not calling Transport for London because I’m lost! (And yes, I have called them for that

purpose before but that’s a totally different story)!

So again my class had another event to be at -isn’t it great that we have these opportunities to attend

these events- this time at MAC Arts Building.

From the theme of the conference, ‘Social Capital: A New Currency’, I was more curious than I was

terrified like the first one I attended http://fairygodsister.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/the-hyper-local-

govcamp-event/ Somehow I daresay I looked forward to this one!

First thing I learnt, social media networks are inter woven in such a way that you’ll always see a face

you know at any related event (even if it’s just the faces of your classmates)!

So we got there a little late (thanks to the adventure of finding our way there) and only caught the

end of Lance Weiler’s interesting session on, ‘Building a Storyworld’. Take away for me? Don’t let

the world get in the way of the story, let go of a single point of view, no story is ever cast in stone, I

could go on and on and on…..

 Next up, Helga Henry did a very insightful presentation on Switchboard and what they are about,

traced the origins of Social Capital (which is essentially barter) way back to pre-currency times. I

studied Johannes Gutenberg as part of the requirements for a course I did for my first degree; it was

good to update my knowledge with some of the things she said.

 By the way, Helga runs a blog (and plays Agony Aunt too) here –

www.developingtalent.posterous.com

 There was also a live broadcast of a session by Tommy Pallotta, an award winning film Director.

More gist on him? www.collapsus.com

We took a break here, and I gratefully dug into two croissants (one after the other), shared a high five

with @leonieBrueckner for knowing Clay Shirky’s Cognitive Surplus (and thanks to @daveharte for

making us read it) and then it was time for the next session.

Moderated by Julia Higginbottom of Aquila, Nicky Getgood and Dave Harte (yay) were on the hot

seat discussing their blogs www.digbethisgood.com and www.bournevillevillage.com and the power

of storytelling in the community. I learnt that at some point, bloggers have to make the editorial

decision (based on personal values) on what and what not to feature on their blogs. Nicky gave an

example of the time a youth center/lounge/building (I don’t remember which) caught fire and loads

of local press reported it; she didn’t.  A couple months later, the place re-opened for business, and

that’s what she based her story on.

I also learnt that you can enrich your blog by using links, audio (www.audioboo.com) and video

feeds; more people will feel comfortable contributing to your blog that way than doing regular

interviews for traditional media. Now you can stop wondering why I seem to have so many links

with this post!

The fifth and final session had power houses like Nick Booth, Natasha Carlish, and Chris Unitt, and

was moderated by Helga Henry. The topic for discussion? Social Capital as Currency. I was blown

away by the concept behind the film developed and shot on social capital alone; everything was

virtually sourced from social networks! www.turbulencefilms.com

The concept behind Created in Birmingham is laudable; linking up the interesting arts and culture

related activities that happen here, thus becoming one blog among many and playing its part in

Birmingham’s online community. If you haven’t already been there,

http://www.createdinbirmingham.com  

I also learnt that Social Capital is not a genie you rub the right way and expect miracles; you invest

(the typical garbage in garbage out scenario). You can do this by providing needed help to people

(not spamming them); examples include www.socialmediasurgeries.com and

www.producersforum.org.uk. 

With that we wrapped up a lovely evening and… (no we didn’t go home), we headed to the bar

where the organizers had graciously opened a tab we had drinks on. It was good to sit and talk about

the challenges with blogging, how to measure responses, how to keep the interest up even in

discussing sober topics on a blog, and other related questions with @nohaatef, @Ianswallow,

@negredo, @kazkiely, and @leonieBrueckner. We had a nice chat with @podnosh too and it was

refreshing to know that in the spirit of community collaboration, I can explore text messaging as an

alternative where twitter and other social media are not easily accessible.

Final word: everyone has social capital; you just need to find out what you can trade.

Hyperlinks

http://fairygodsister.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/the-hyper-local-govcamp-event/

http://www.developingtalent.posterous.com

http://www.collapsus.com

http://www.digbethisgood.com

http://www.bournevillevillage.com

http://www.audioboo.com

http://www.turbulencefilms.com

http://www.createdinbirmingham.com

http://www.socialmediasurgeries.com

http://www.producersforum.org.uk

3. IF ONLY WE   KNEW………

Posted: November 4, 2010 in Blogs from and about school, www.fairygodsister.wordpress.com 997

words and www . masocialmedia.posterous.com on November 17, 2010.

Since I came to Birmingham at the end of September I’ve been amused and fascinated with the town,

it’s people, and their cultures. Forget the old ladies I saw this morning wagging their fingers and

mouthing off expletives at the young female driver who refused to wait for them to cross the road; it

amused me in a sad way (still laughed though) but that’s not the point.

Something else that fascinated me (and still does) is the difference in perception between the British

and people from outside Europe. I remember talking to daveharte about CCTV here and how it gives

me an added sense of security; turns out in Birmingham surveillance cameras are becoming an issue

with organizations like BigBrotherWatch, Liberty, No-CCTV etc. mobilizing and calling for the

cameras to be pulled down. I’ve talked this over with a few people since then, and the verdict is the

same, surveillance cameras are slowly but surely becoming an   infringement on their rights to

privacy.

Truth is I don’t blame them, they have a right to be paranoid when cameras are installed in High

School toilets without notifying the children or their parents (even when the school says the cameras

were placed only by the sinks), or when there are now devices that can capture audio and direct the

cameras towards suspicious sounds on the streets. The plan of all of this is to nip violence in the bud

but people are having none of it, claiming that it is part of the plan to turn Britain into a surveillance

society.

Having said all that, I must say the recent attraction for me is Open Data, its opportunities,

complexities, and how it fits in nicely with the idea of the Intelligent Community first step of which

is getting Britain online by 2012.

I first heard of Open Data at the Hyper Local Government Camp event, but I didn’t really understand

it then. I thought it was only about the government making public their spending data, and using

information put out by government agencies to bully them (the government) into doing their jobs (a

la Will Perrin and the ‘crackavan story’). Nothing could be farther from the truth!

I’ve since come to learn that Open Data does have to with sharing of information (both by the

government and its citizens) but it’s a lot more than that. Dwelling on examples from the United

States, acclaimed world leaders in data sharing, this presentation sums up the benefits of open

government data using the most real to life examples of how even regular organizations achieved

success by sharing information on what they couldn’t do on their own!

Wikipedia defines Open Data in relation to governments as “holding that the business of government

and state administration should be opened at all levels to effective public scrutiny and oversight”. It

is worthy of note that Wikipedia is a product of worldwide collaboration and information sharing

which is  one of the aims of information being put out there and is Charles Leadbeater’s biggest

argument for participation rather than mere production and consumption in the creation of the future

society.

At the Beyond 2010 event, it was great listening to Kate Sahota from Warwickshire Council explain

what Open Data is using a popular film, and then tell of how it has helped

·         Efficiency because more minds on an issue make for an easier workload for the authorities,

the people can mash and reuse the data to solve problems of their own;

·         Transparency, because people are less tempted to pilfer when specifics of their actions are

available for public scrutiny;

·         Accuracy and data quality because everyone becomes a moderator for what is put up.

All she said just re-enforced what David Miller, the Mayor of Toronto said, still on the benefits of

Open data, “when you open up data there’s no limit to what people can do. It engages the

imagination of citizens in building the city”.

Even scholars are realizing the need for Open Access to their work (yay), and quoting Dr. Arianna

Betti , a researcher in the field of history of logic, “Right now, we still must choose between Open

Access and prestige. Let’s keep our copyright. Let’s put our publications online available in

repositories……The future is Open Access”. She was speaking at the Open Access Week, now in its

fourth year.

As with every other bright looking idea, there are challenges and obstacles to Open Data, first of

which is digital exclusion; whether because of the lack of infrastructure or because the people are not

just interested in using computers. Open Data also raises questions like how much of public data

should the government release, how high is the risk of inaccurate information (which is worse than

no information at all); Kate Sahota said something about councils worrying about how they can

make money off the data they release, and then there’s the Ordnance Survey (which I still can’t wrap

my head around)!

Adding credence to Warwickshire’s concerns about selling their data, Charles Leadbeater said,

“……..That culture of sharing also makes the web difficult for governments to control and hard for

corporations to make money from”.

FutureGov  asked officials in South Korea, Singapore, the UK and the Netherlands whether they feel

that the benefits of open government data outweigh the costs, their responses are here

http://www.futuregov.asia/articles/2010/apr/08/do-benefits-open-govt-data-outweigh-costs/

It’s very exciting for me, this Open Data thing; makes me feel like developing countries without

regular internet (or with more pressing problems than digital inclusion) have a looooooong, long way

to go in becoming intelligent, in saving some money (in these days of recession), in empowering

their citizens to make informed decisions for themselves, and in truth, and in not being excluded

from the rest of the world.

I’m thinking of Nigeria and saying, “if only we knew……..”

 P: S – please don’t forget I’m still receiving comments and suggestions on the Two Books a Month

(TBAM) project. It’s just a click away http://fairygodsister.wordpress.com/2010/10/28/two-books-a-

month-tbam/ Thank you!!!

Hyperlinks

http://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/human-rights/privacy/index.php

http://www.no-cctv.org.uk/campaigns/moseley_anti_anpr.asp

http://www.no-cctv.org.uk/campaigns/moseley_anti_anpr.asp

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Parents-Outraged-After-CCTV-Cameras-Installed-In-

Toilets-At-Grace-Academy-Birmingham/Article/201003215570225?f=rss

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/crime-courts/privacy-fears-over-the-device-that-can-

eavesdrop-on-crimes-1.1036149

http://raceonline2012.org/manifesto

http://onlinejournalismblog.com/2010/10/27/hyperlocal-voices-will-perrin-kings-cross-environment/

http://www.slideshare.net/jenniferbell/benefits-of-open-government-data

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_government

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Leadbeater

http://www.futuregov.asia/

http://www.futuregov.asia/articles/2010/apr/08/do-benefits-open-govt-data-outweigh-costs/

4. THIS THING CALLED SOCIAL   CAPITAL!

Posted: November 20, 2010 in Blogs from and about school,

http://fairygodsister.wordpress.com/2010/11/20/this-thing-called-social-capital/ and

www . masocialmedia.posterous.com on November 22, 2010. 1015 words

Every now and then, we hear something about a new world order where every country will use the

same currency, use the same policing system, etc. Religious people say it’s a sign of the ‘end times’,

you know, just before the world comes to an end. I remember the panic I felt some years ago when

some countries switched their currencies to the euro; I remember begging God to at least let me have

my own family before the world ends!

The first time I heard of social capital ever, was at the Social Capital as the New Currency event at

the MAC. To my mind, it sounded like this was it, this currency would trump my new world order

ideas because this we wouldn’t even need money for! Just be friends with a bunch of people, be nice

to them, and start calling up favours as you need them!

Award winning Director Natasha Carlish gave a brilliant example with the   Turbulence film where

everything needed for the production of the movie was sourced via social networks (including the

3000 pounds of lighting)! I remember telling myself that if she could do it, I could, and started

imagining myself at the première of my movie (done from concept to edit on social capital of

course)!

Yes there was the bit about social capital not being a genie you could rub the right way and get

results, you would have to invest in the networks but honestly, I wasn’t listening. I related to it like I

would do the basic form of barter; your milk for my flour.

Jon Hickman’s class shook the very foundations of my naivety, practically uprooted them from the

ground. First off, it wasn’t as simplistic as I had thought it to be, it was academic! As a matter of

fact, even though an emerging consensus has been identified by Woolcock (2001) defining social

capital as “the norms and networks that facilitate collective action”, it is still a highly contested idea

at the moment.

That class took away the equation of social capital to anything monetary, even though further reading

on Johnston and Percy-Smith’s “In Search Of Social Capital” showed that a number of scholars

likened social capital to finances and suggested that potential finances or monetary gain were some

of the origins of social capital.

Since then, I’ve done a bit of random reading on the subject to get myself out of the dark and this is

what I’ve come up with, in my own words.

Social capital is not owned by one person alone but is the sum of strengths drawn from social

networks; you have to contribute and actively participate to gain the right to draw from it. This

thought is corroborated by Gidden’s (2000:78) definition of social capital as ‘‘trust networks that

individuals can draw from for social support’’. Also agrees with Bourdieu’s definition of it as ‘‘the

aggregate of the actual or potential resources which are linked to a durable network of somewhat

institutionalized relationships of mutual recognition or acquaintance’’. Almost sounds

mathematical!!!

A lot of other big weights (Coleman, Fukuyama, Becker, Webber, etc.) have defined social capital as

it speaks to them but I found that three underlying principles that cut across all their definitions are

reciprocity (or do unto others what you would have them do to you), trust, and the fact that you need

to belong to a network and participate to be able to reap anything from it.

From Jon Hickman’s class I learnt that policy makers see social capital through the eyes of Robert

Putnam, believing that when people come together to collaborate, they reduce reliance on the state,

increase opportunities for each other, and generally make their society better.

Reading ‘Social Capital: Beyond the Theory’, a 2003 research document by National Council for

Voluntary Organizations (NCVO) identified more positive outcomes of social capital including (but

not limited to) improved labour market participation, good election turnout, economic growth, and

government effectiveness. Woolcock (2001) does a good summary of the benefits of social capital

when he says “the well-connected are more likely to be housed, healthy, hired, and happy”.

All this is apart from social capital being both a public and private good to all concerned. A good

example would be members of a community volunteering to get together to repaint and redecorate an

orphanage. Public good = doing something good for the community. Private good = providing the

volunteers new friendships and contacts that might benefit them later.  Sounds nice doesn’t it?

Unfortunately, social capital is not all heavenly. Its positives ironically also constitute its negatives.

Portes (1998) identified four negative consequences of social capital to be exclusion of outsiders (so

people outside a circle find it difficult to get in); excess claims on group members (making them do

stuff they normally would not do just because they belong to a network); restrictions on individual

freedom (making them feel like because you belong to this group you can or cannot do stuff) ; and

downward levelling norms (where a community that has experienced adversity consciously or

unconsciously restricts its members from seeking to better their lot).

Narayan (1999) explains the exclusion component of social capital by saying it sometimes results in

“unequal opportunities for participation, meaning that those who have access to resources and people

with the power to make decisions are likely to continue doing so to the detriment of those who are

already not in that circle”. That made me think again about the ‘rich getting richer and poor getting

poorer’ phrase.

Also, the ties between members of criminal networks and the mafia are also due to social capital or

the “strong internal bonds they have”, so says NCVO.

Bottom line, there’s still a lot I need to learn, a lot more I need to understand about this thing called

social capital but I know I have moved from being the starry-eyed youth seeing social capital as the

genie with my three wishes.

P: S – it took a lot to expose my ignorance on this subject so…..be easy with it!!!

Hyperlinks

http://fairygodsister.wordpress.com/2010/11/20/this-thing-called-social-capital/

http://www.turbulencefilm.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_D._Putnam

http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/uploadedFiles/NCVO/What_we_do/Research/Social_Capital/SocCapital

%20BeyondTheTheory.pdf

5. BEYOND 2010: GETTING   READY…

Posted: November 22, 2010 by in Blogs from and about school,

http://fairygodsister.wordpress.com/2010/11/22/beyond-2010-getting-ready%e2%80%a6-2/(1094

words)

On the way to this event, in the blistering cold of time around 7:40am, I’m singing, ‘on the road

again’; you know, the song that donkey in the animation Shrek was humming when Shrek allowed

him to come along on the trip to see Lord Farquad. Now even though I have issues with Shrek (and

how DreamWorks is slowly turning what would have been a classic into a random serial), it is the

only thing that comes to mind at this time because I am truly on the road again, and I’m loving it!

In less than six weeks of starting my MA in Social Media at Birmingham City University my class

has been to three events ; the Hyper Local Government Camp ‘unconference’ at Walsall College

(first time ever I was at an event where the agenda was formed on the spot), the Multi-platform Story

Telling and Social Capital  at the MAC (where I inflated my ignorance balloon on social capital), and

this one, the Beyond 2010 event organised by the Birmingham City Council and Digital Birmingham

to spark up debates on how to deliver more public services for cheaper using digital innovations.

Apart from thoroughly enjoying the coffee and biscuits and getting wowed by Samira Ahmed’s CV,

Paul Tilsley, Deputy Leader, Birmingham City council gave me my first laugh of the day when he

said, “there are three types of people around, the ones born in Birmingham, the ones who wish they

had that privilege, and the ones who have no ambition”. Talk of being proud of where you’re from!

Ha!

He also laid the background for what the conference would be about, looking at case studies of

places, governments and people who had embraced technology to achieve better outcomes for

cheaper, especially in the light of the budget cuts just spits away.

First (and in my opinion the most interesting session for the day) was by Robert Bell, co-founder of

Intelligent Community Forum. He talked about intelligent communities, saying they are measured by

what they do (innovative and constantly working to build a knowledgeable work force), how they do

it (advocacy, marketing, digital inclusion), and why they do it (to give their children a life better than

what they’ve had). He also stressed the need for digital inclusion because leaving people out costs

more money.

We broke into sessions and I remember murmuring to myself as I went to find my hall about the

futility of breakfast with the flight of stairs I had to climb!

I sat in on a session chaired by Professor Nigel Shadbolt, Government Transparency and Open Data

Advisor. I must say I loved the way Kate Sahota  explained Open Data using a popular film (don’t

remember which now) and then ran us through the Benefits of Open Data (efficiency, opportunities

to reuse data, accuracy, improved transparency, data quality) and then the challenges with it (what

and what not to release, how the councils can make money off the data they release, Ordnance

Survey). She wrapped up by touching on how councils can start Open Data.

Now, ever thought about who decides what information is released? What approach is better for

releasing data? Those were the questions Adrian Brown from the Institute of Government left us

with after his talk about the two approaches of government to transparency which could either

1. Targeted: waiting for the public to ask for the data before you release it as against releasing

random bits of information.

2. Free: as fast you can get the data out, let it out for people to access, re-use and solve problems

that affect them.

 Final presentation was by Open Data champion, Will Perrin. Can I digress a bit and say that at all

three events I’ve been to so far I saw at least ten people who have been to all three events too. Made

me think two things;

Means it’s a fairly close-knit network since everyone gets invited to all the ‘same purpose’

events

We could be at risk of circulating messages at these events to the same circle of people and

excluding (however unconsciously) a wider and potentially ‘just-as-strong’ audience.

Back from my drifting thoughts, Will Perrin talked about the benefits of Open Data, and then

touched on how communities can embrace the big society; help their neighbourhoods find a voice

online, and give their citizens the data and information they need to help them deliver efficient public

services. 

I enjoyed the presentation, Will Perrin is a great speaker; my only issue with it was that I had heard it

all before (at the Hyper Local event). And I’ll leave it at that.

Food!! Yes, it was lunch time. Lunch was lovely; exposed me to another difference between Nigeria

and here though. Lunch at a conference in Nigeria would be rice (boiled, jollof, fried, sautéed),

chicken (in all forms imaginable), fish, moimoi (bean pudding), beef, goat meat, salads, etc. Lunch

here was mini sausages, sandwiches, prawns, potato wedges, meatballs, and the option of tea and

coffee (of course).

Back from lunch (which I enjoyed), Helen Milner from UK Online explained the brilliant work her

company is doing (in collaboration with the government) in getting people online. Things I took

away?

Don’t use the offline majority as an excuse

Create the digital world and get the offline on board

Don’t just see it as a tool to save money (even though it does save, and a lot)

 After this there was the presentation by Andreu Puig, General Manager of the city of Barcelona,

another case study of an intelligent city by Robert Bell, and then another break out session that

included Dave Harte  (yay), Nick Booth, Karen Cheney, and was chaired by Will Perrin. This is what

I took away from all of those (randomly noted), feel free to take notes!

ü  A digitally enhanced citizen is one who is well-informed to and be able influence/comment

on/access decision making and have access information.

ü  Social media adds a valuable option to community engagement but should not be used instead of

face to face communication; it’s an addition, not a substitute.

ü  The Big Society is about people helping people using technology so the emphasis is laid (or

remains with) the people and not technology.

Ok, so I could go on and on and on but I need to stop here and read, update my knowledge because

Beyond 2010, technology will render a lot of human functions obsolete and I’m getting ready for

that. And by that I mean prepping myself to remain relevant.

Hyperlinks

http://fairygodsister.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/the-hyper-local-govcamp-event/

http://fairygodsister.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/116/

http://www.beyond-2010.com/t/live-smart.asp?modeID=&DoLogin

http://www.beyond-2010.com/t/learn-smart.asp?modeID=Content&uID=14&DoLogin

http://www.beyond-2010.com/t/learn-smart.asp?modeID=Content&uID=12&DoLogin

http://www.beyond-2010.com/t/learn-smart.asp?modeID=Content&uID=23&DoLogin

http://www.beyond-2010.com/t/learn-smart.asp?modeID=Content&uID=13&DoLogin

http://www.beyond-2010.com/t/learn-smart.asp?modeID=Content&uID=25&DoLogin

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. “WE ARE THE MEDIA: NON-ACCREDITED MEDIA AND CITIZEN JOURNALISTS

AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES” BY Andy Miah, Beatriz Garcia, and Tian Zhihui

‘We are the media’ is a report that discusses the role non-accredited media and citizen journalists

played at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, but not before it does a brief overview of the

role the media has played in the Olympics from the year 2000

The report isolates the three types of media at the games, their recognition and accommodation by

the International Olympic Committee (IOC) or the local councils where the games are held and the

different perspectives of the Games each of the three types of media cater to.

There is the accredited Olympics journalist who has privileged access to Games venues and the

exclusive rights to report the competitions and is catered to by the IOC and the Main Press Centre (or

International Broadcast Centre); there is the non-accredited journalist who because of limitations and

contractual agreement cannot be awarded full privileges but will be present at the games, cover

events as they receive clearance and is catered to by the Non-Accredited Media Centre and host

councils; finally there are the self-acclaimed ( characterized) or citizen journalists who even though

they have a fragile relationship with mainstream media, use their blogs and other devices to give

their audiences and general public a wider, more rounded view of what the games were about.

The report also discusses media structures at the Olympics, some of the media laws by the

International Olympic Committee that govern and are binding on the host country as part of their

agreements to host the Games.

It traces the infiltration per se of the traditional media at the Games by citizen journalists aided by

new technologies and media using the YouTube and video blogging examples from Sydney 2006

and captures the effects this and other new media have had on the games.

Finally, it discusses the efforts the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games made to

accommodate both the non-accredited journalists and the new media users, its attendant challenges,

and concludes by saying citizen journalism should be given better recognition and acceptance.

2. SOCIAL CAPITAL: BEYOND THE THEORY. BY the June 2003 National Council for

Voluntary Organizations (NVCO) Research Team led by Veronique Jochum.

Social Capital: beyond the theory is a 34-paged 2003 document produced by the National Council

for Voluntary Organizations (NVCO). It starts by outlining different definitions of Social Capital by

different academics, discusses bonding, bridging, and linking as the types of social capital and then

talks about the possible expressions of the positive and negative outcomes of social capital.

The research document goes on to discuss the dimensions and yardsticks for measurement of social

capital in the United Kingdom and the quantitative research methods used.

Beyond the theory uses examples of Community Evaluation Northern Ireland (CENI) and voluntary

sector activity, New Economic Foundation (NEF) and neighbourhood renewal and the British

Association of Settlements and Social Action Centre (BASSAC) and multipurpose community

organizations amongst others to show how social capital can be used in practise.

The final part of the work discuses voluntary organizations as a source of social capital and how they

use it, outlines the factors and real life situations that hinder social capital and calls for support and

capacity building aimed at not only those actually involved in it but the wider community as well.

REFERENCES

Johnston G. and Percy-Smith J (2003): In search of social capital. Volume 31, The Policy Press

Leadbeater, C. (2008) you are what you think (pages 1-26). In We Think. London, Profile Books

Maverick A.E and Boyd (2010) I tweet passionately: twitter users, context collapse, and the

imagined audience. (July 2010). Available online

http://nms.sagepub.com/content/early/2010/06/22/1461444810365313

Micah A, Garcia B, and Zhihui T (2008) We are the media (pages 452-488) in Owning the

Olympics: Narratives of the new China. University of Michigan Press

Shirky, C. (2010) Gin, television and cognitive surplus (pages1-29). In Cognitive Surplus (2008)

Veronique Jochum (2003) Social Capital: beyond the theory (June 2003) available online

http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/uploadedFiles/NCVO/What_we_do/Research/Social_Capital/SocCapital

%20BeyondTheTheory.pdf (accessed 2nd November 2010).

Williams, R. (1958) Culture is ordinary. In Resources of hope: culture, democracy, socialism.

London: Verso.

www.fairygodsister.wordpress.com