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A look at the inherently privileged notions behind the avenues explored by Delhi University (DU) regarding end semester examinations and their feasibility.

DU has released forms to register for even semester examinations online, a move which shows that the total cancellation of exams during the pandemic is not on DU’s agenda yet. In the light of the pandemic and seeing how cancelling exams is not a viable possibility, multiple reports suggest that DU is looking at the option of online examinations to conduct end semester examination, an option Jawaharlal Nehru University had also explored last year during the university lockdown. While the idea does completely do away with the risks of catching the disease, there are some inherent privileges behind the very concept.

A Public University in India does not just cater to a certain section of society or certain parts of the country, DU has students from all over the country coming from every section of society.  Even though India is the second-highest in several internet users, only around 50% of the population has access to it, and less so in rural areas. Adding to that, the frequent internet shutdowns and the situation in Kashmir created by our government, the very idea that everyone will be able to access the internet to give their exams is privileged in itself.

The first-hand account of a Kashmiri DU student shows how online exams are inaccessible for students in the valley. They say “If there are online exams, it will be very difficult for the students who are in Kashmir right because there is only 2G internet speed here. Sometimes we can attend all the classes and the connection is good but sometimes even in downloading a single page, it takes a lot of time and effort. It is unpredictable. Even today during the Commerce exam there were a lot of problems, the connection was not proper and was getting disconnected again and again.”

There should be an emphasis on the fact that learning through online classes and e-resources may not be feasible given the limited or no access to computers and the internet, particularly in rural areas.

Aan Mary Suresh, a student of Jesus and Mary College said, “I wish DU understood that more than our country’s lack of technical expertise to conduct exams online, we as students are neither well equipped nor prepared to take these exams at one moment. I am sorry but Zoom classes are not helpful. Students are new to this form of learning and the experiment whether this would be successful should not be on us.”

The online process of paper setting, submission of answers, and evaluation are susceptible to tampering and pilferage. An extremely weak university server, one which cannot even bear the internet traffic of filling exam registration forms just exemplifies that online examinations are not practicable at all.

The Delhi University Teachers’ Association, in its feedback to the University Grants Commission, said, “As per the MHRD/DU circulars, teachers have engaged with students through e-resources, this process is far from being adequate due to the lack of preparedness and institutional help provided to students and teachers. Students have reported facing issues of connectivity and access to sufficient bandwidth to be able to attend the online sessions. Given our student demography, it is important to recognise that a large section of students come from outside Delhi and that an equally significant number comes from underprivileged backgrounds and the environment at their homes is unlikely to be conducive for learning.”

It further added that the University and colleges have so far not been able to collect data on how many students have accessibility to the e-resources and lectures shared by teachers. Given the diverse population of students to whom the University of Delhi caters to and the student strength, the means and modes of assessment and examination adopted in the context of the lockdown should ensure that the solutions offered do not further marginalise the already marginalised sections of students or create a situation where large sections of students lose out due to the circumstances they face.

If Delhi University proceeds with online examinations; it won’t only make a mockery of higher education, but also set a dangerous precedent of survival of the fittest- an extremely prejudiced notion that just takes privileged people in its purview. Online Exams cannot happen in this economy, period.

Feature Image Credits: Prabhanu Kumar Das for DU Beat

 

Prabhanu Kumar Das

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Paridhi Puri

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Read about the problems faced by students residing in Kashmir in accessing e-learning resources online due to low-speed internet.

The Jammu and Kashmir administration said that only 2G internet will be available to residents till April 3rd amid calls for restoration of high speed 4G internet in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

This poses a grave concern for students – as the world resorts to online classes for regular classes and lectures, students residing in Kashmir are troubled by frequent disruptions and delays in their educational pursuits. The learning process isn’t facilitated well, because the streaming quality is often poor due to low-speed internet. The union territory of J&K has over 15,000 schools and colleges catering to tens of thousands of students.

Bareen, a student of Jesus and Mary College, explains how difficult it is to continue and keep up the pace with everyone residing in the rest of the country when it comes to even basic tasks, “We are often not able to access video lectures, apart from this; National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) aspirants are facing problems in filling up forms and studying without able internet. Internet Banking has been absolutely crippled, failed transactions is the norm now due to slow net. Basic communication through mediums like WhatsApp is hard; downloading audios, videos and documents has become a huge problem. There is no question of even accessing other websites like Netflix, YouTube and social media for recreation and leisure.”

“Restore 4G internet services to help student learn from home,” an association of private schools in the valley has said in a message. The association said the ban on high speed 4G internet services has been preventing schools from offering Google classroom teaching to students in the region. “While private schools show their readiness to shift to online lesson plans, they’re running into limitations of our broadband networks,” said G N Var, president of the Kashmir Private School Association.

Feature Image Credits: Instagram / Stand with Kashmir Feature Image Caption: A letter written by a 5th grade student to address his lack of access to online classes.
Image Credits: Instagram / Stand with Kashmir
 Image Caption: A letter written by a 5th grade student to address his lack of access to online classes.

Doctors and other health care personnel have also faced significant predicaments. With concerns arising over the coronavirus pandemic, the risks to life and lungs have increased. A Kashmiri doctor recently tweeted his frustration over not being able to download the ICU guidelines for COVID-19 even after an hour of trying, due to the low-speed internet.

Feature Image Credits: The Hindu

 

Paridhi Puri

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As we shut our ears to the cacophony of the other side, the institution of democracy loses its ability to hold people together. 

If the numbers are right, we are moving towards a world where everything is stretched and tied to two ends. Cass Sunstein, a Professor at Harvard University, argued whether the new public sphere woven by the internet acts as ‘echo chambers’ or not. In a paper published in 2002, Sunstein uses activities on Facebook to quantify people’s engagement with the other side. Several studies suggest that while interactions across the ideological divide are almost negligible, the ability to selectively exclude certain pages and people to pop into one’s feed can lead to both polarization and convergence.

 

Birds of a feather flock together

The idea of homophily is intrinsic to human beings. There’s a tendency to bond and associate with similar others. That is why people of a community tend to hold together in foreign lands. It is also the reason why Indians and Pakistanis bond so well as immigrants in a western country, particularly due to a South Asian affinity.

The feathers begin to rot when they’re painted with political colours. People begin to ignore facts and constantly attempt to prove the other side wrong. Political polarization then extends to sensitive issues like LGBTQ rights, climate change and abortion. The Red states in the US actively deny climate change, even after being exposed to facts which claim the opposite. Groups, therefore, have shared opinions on most issues.

Political Echo Chambers allow think tanks and entrepreneurs to exploit voters by fooling them using certain tactics. They help leaders to present different images to different people, which helps them to secure a place in the heart of every voter. A single leader can be present at many places ideologically, by presenting themselves differently to different kinds of voters.

 

The Internet as a ‘Public Space’

The bricks of these chambers are placed by the invisible hands of the Internet. With its invention, people believed that the world will now be able to interact with each other in a better manner, thereby filling chests with tolerance and empathy. As a fact, on Facebook, 99.91 per cent of the two billion people on it belongs to a single huge component, and hence everyone is connected to everyone in some manner. Unfortunately, none of this has led to fruitful conversations among people.

For one, sites like Twitter and Facebook function as echo chambers. The design of such websites allows people to adopt a homophilic approach, which narrows the divide between the Internet and the real world. A study of 2.2 million politically engaged users on Twitter in the US finds that while there are roughly 90 million network links among these users, 98 per cent of first retweets of Republican voters come from conservative voters. The corresponding number for Democrats is 86 per cent.

 

Offline Polarization

But polarization is not limited to the internet users. Fake news was invented long before Facebook, and partisanship existed through newspapers and TV channels. News Channels, to maintain their viewership, picked sides and broke their supposed vow of remaining unbiased. While Fox news moved towards the right, channels like MSNBC started appealing more to liberal voters of the US. A homogeneous audience pushed them towards their extreme sides, something that these channels might not have anticipated. Polarization has increased the most for an older audience, who are least likely to be on the internet and consume articles produced by traditional media houses.

 

Effect on Preferences

Economists like to assume that preferences are both stable and coherent. But the former might lose ground if the idea of Echo Chambers yields the expected results. Absurd preferences, such as a hatred for blacks, can get intensified with repetitive exposure to similar views. Such peculiar opinions keep persisting due to limited exposure to the other side. Furthermore, the opportunity to choose the news one consumes adds fuel to the fire.

 

An Ailing Civic Discourse

An understatement would be to say that Echo Chambers do not encompass matters of civic importance. Social media has made it easier for news to originate and circulate, which means that virtually anyone can produce a rumour within seconds, and these chambers can, in turn, empower such people. It kills the production of reliable news and analysis. Moreover, original pieces aren’t credited, since copying something is easier than ever now.

Facts cease to matter after a point. Constant repetition of certain ideas targeted at certain people pushes them into a cult. Ideas become elements of belief for people, an ideology they must hold onto to ‘prevent’ the other side from attacking them. Conversations become violent and stop yielding results. Lack of confrontation in the virtual world erodes mannerism, which encourages sharp language that only results in chaos. As Plato pointed out in Allegory of the Cave, ridiculing the uninformed is the worst form of enlightenment, and radicalization is the only fruit.

 

The Democracy of the Future

As people get disconnected over a network of connections, the idea of democracy weakens. Polarization, as is evident, happens offline as well, which affects people of all ages. Radical views are supported by numerous people now, and the truth loses its value. Democracy, which is supposed to work for everyone, folds itself into the world of a group of self-conforming individuals who hold mirrors and reflect similar ideas. The walls prevent interaction with the outside world. An example of how a Radio company’s actions in Rwanda led to a mass genocide of fifty thousand people is chilling. The way out of these chambers is unknown since people can customize what they view.

But this choice itself can be a saviour. Experiments show that people choose to move towards the centre when informed about the leanings of all media houses. But such laboratory customized experiments can only reveal a little about this world. We are yet to solve most of our problems.

 

Featured Image Credits: BBC Future

 

Kuber Bathla

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Since the dawn of the 21st century, technology has shaped our lives. Not only has it brought us closer but also has made it nearly impossible to imagine a life without it. But, is being over-dependent on technology misguiding us from the truth?

The Brexit, the 2016 US Presidential elections and your recent Flipkart order have one thing in common. That commonality is the practice of ‘Astroturfing’ or the deceptive practise of presenting an orchestrated marketing or public relations campaign in the guise of unsolicited comments from members of the public. Many corporate companies and political parties use fake comments or reactions to create a positive brand image (shout-out to BJP IT cell).

Be it politics, advertising or corporate campaigning, this practice is so common that we often ignore it altogether. Those earphones that you purchased from Amazon had some amazingly positive views but in reality, weren’t that good after all. Or that YouTube video for a mobile phone which proved that it was the best in its segment but in reality that wasn’t the case. According to Bing Liu, a data mining expert, as many as 1/3rd of all the reviews online are fake.

Even big companies like Oppo, Xiaomi, etc. are accused of practising astroturfing. Countries like Russia and China are the stalwarts of Astroturfing. They use fake comments and posts to support the ruling party’s propaganda, inside and outside their nation. Be it meddling with the US elections or Brexit, astroturfing played a major role.

Digital marketing companies use methods like fake IP addresses and Persona Management Software (PMS) to make fake accounts and use them for this purpose. The other method is using actual people to do so. And in this sphere, I have done this numerous times without even knowing the gravity of the same.

Just after my boards, I joined a digital marketing internship. My senior told me that I’d have to write comments on YouTube videos, post (fake) reviews on Google and stories on Instagram. Mind you that I only had to write ‘positive’ comments and reviews. Mostly the content of the comments was sent by them. The videos on YouTube included music videos of hugely popular pop stars also. Unknowingly I was doing something which is not only unethical but also illegal.

The greater problem is that nearly every student who would have done such an internship can tell you the numerous times he or she may have done an activity like this. The one time that you commented something rational on a Twitter post and then suddenly several users started trolling you without any rational argument, that is the work of such astroturfers. With a few computers and a handful of operatives, whole legions of supporters can be created out of the blue, and that too at a nominal cost. How widespread these practices are is anyone’s guess, but as the size and influence of online debate increases, the demand for such astroturf services will only increase, too.

Even if we leave aside the business part aside, the political sphere of astroturfing is even more disturbing. When suddenly a hashtag gets popular on Twitter out of thin air, regular users also take part in it. New forms of software enable any organisation with the funds and the know-how to conduct astroturfing on a far bigger scale than even the Kremlin could hope for. As reported by the Guardian, some big companies now use sophisticated “persona management software” to create armies of virtual astroturfers, complete with fake IP addresses, non-political interests and online histories. Authentic-looking profiles are generated automatically and developed for months or years before being brought into use for a political or corporate campaign. As the software improves, these astroturf armies will become increasingly difficult to spot, and the future of open debate online could become increasingly perilous.

The IPC articles 499 and 500, The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 and IT Act article 66A prohibit this practice. But these laws are so seldom enforced that people have nearly forgotten them.

 

The end goal of astroturfing is always to create a fallacious opinion about a topic among people. So the next time you search for a product or a video, remember to be sane about astroturfing and not follow whatever looks to be popular.

Feature Image Credits: Andrii Yalanskyi

Aniket Singh Chauhan

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Losing internet access is not that big of a deal. It’s just a matter of time… isn’t it? This piece aims to highlight the internalisation of communication blackout that has been normalised by the current regime.

Many might remember waking up one morning, sometime last month, to find their Instagram feeds not refreshing, hence beginning the day on a rather agonistic note. People came to realise later, that this wasn’t their terrible Wi-Fi bailing on them. Instead, this was their Government imposing an internet shutdown allegedly for “controlling violence and misuse by any anti-national elements.” 

Post the enactment of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act into a Law on 12th December 2019, widespread protests were observed across the country. These protests grew larger following the news of police brutality on December 15, at a peaceful protest by the students of Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI). In response to these protests, the Government ordered internet shutdowns across different parts of the Country including Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and parts of West Bengal, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.

An article in the New York Times, reported, “As the Government of India pushes increasingly provocative policies, it is using a tactic to stifle dissent that is more commonly associated with authoritarian regimes, not democracies: It is shutting down the internet.” 

On 12th December 2019, a State-wide internet shutdown was imposed on Assam by the State Government. Contrary to the raging protests observed in the State that day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “I want to assure my brothers and sisters of Assam that they have nothing to worry after the passing of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. I want to assure them – no one can take away your rights, unique identity and beautiful culture. It will continue to flourish and grow.” It is ironical how the medium used to provide comfort to these people was the one which had been made inaccessible in the first place.

Following the 134 instances of internet blackouts in 2018, the Government imposed shutdowns “only” 93 times in 2019. Not so bad compared to the previous year, is it? Well, 2019 also observed the world’s longest internet shutdown ever in Kashmir, which was imposed on 4th August, and has crossed 150 days of the blackout. With over 350 shutdowns since 2014, India’s closest competitor is Pakistan, with only 12 shutdowns- followed by Syria and Turkey imposing a shutdown just once each in 2018, both countries not popular for their democratic spirits.

“Living in Meerut, internet shutdown isn’t a big thing. This isn’t the first time we faced this. Every little fight that’s not even a riot, results in us living without the internet with no clue when we would get it back. You become a cave-person and unwillingly you become a part of the act of deceiving the rest of the nation that things are fine in your city,” said Avni Dhawan, a student of the University of Delhi, discussing the normality of shutdowns in certain areas.

Research by Jan Rydzak, a scholar from Stanford University released a statistical report on internet shutdowns, revealing that these shutdowns compel protesters to resort to violent tactics instead of non-violent ones gave that they are less reliant on effective communication and coordination.

Moving forward, the economic impact of these blackouts is alarming. The cost of internet shutdowns to the economy was around Rs 21,336 crore between 2011 and 2017, according to the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations—a think tank. 

Rajan Matthews, Director General, Cellular Operators Association of India, said, “Internet shutdown is a blunt instrument and it should not be used frequently. In today’s connected world, when you shut down the internet, people cannot do banking, no transactions take place, people face issues in transportation. It affects daily life to a very large extent and therefore it should be used as a last resort. We have, from time to time, conveyed to the Government that its use should be more surgical.”

Matthews further added, “Instead of using internet shutdown as the first alternative to controlling local problems such as cheating in exams, (as was done thrice within 22 days in Rajasthan), the Government should use other administrative methods to control the problem and use curbs on communication only as a last resort.”

Upon conditions of anonymity, a telecom industry association representative quoted, “It is visible that internet shutdowns don’t stop demonstrations. Nor do they hinder the circulation of rumours. It is estimated that the shutdown of internet services leads to a loss of ?2.45 crore per hour across the value chain.” 

“The other day I was listening to some office workers, who were discussing the internet shutdown and how it discourages firms to work with repeated hindrances. While almost every other work is carried on or through the internet, this has a big impact on the professional domain,” said Faizan Salik, a student of Jamia Millia Islamia commenting on the impact of these shutdowns on the country’s economy.

It is rather fascinating to note that at the Indian Digital Summit, 2014 Prime Minister Modi quoted, “I dream of a Digital India where access to information knows no barriers”. The increasing number of internet shutdowns following his election that year conceptualises his vision of a “Digital India”. 

In September 2019, the Kerala High Court in the landmark case of Faheema Shirin R.K. v. the State of Kerala declared that the Right to Access internet is a basic right which is being violated relentlessly over the past few years. 

Internet blackouts strip people of their Right to Express themselves, their Right to Obtain Information or simply their Right to Communicate with their friends and family. Access to the internet allows people a platform for their voices to be heard in the political spectrum. 

Certainly, denying this access gives the Government excessive control over the dissemination of information and dominance over the narrative. Regular and indiscriminate shutdowns can have chilling effects on free speech in the long run.

These internet shutdowns aren’t merely an inconvenience, they are a hindrance to the already stagnant economic situation of the country. And above that, they are a gross transgression of our fundamental rights- The Right to Information, The Right to Privacy, The Right to Internet Access.

Feature Image Credits: CNN

Aditi Gutgutia

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A critique on the criticisms of memes, shows and books about nothing.

In his widely renowned book ‘Shows About Nothing: Nihilism in Popular Culture’, Thomas Hibbis talks about how nihilism: an absence of belief in anything, has seeped into popular culture. Shows like Rick and Morty, movies like Fight Club and Pulp Fiction, suicide memes or people eating Tide Pods: all have an underlying intersectionality that says God isn’t real and life is meaningless. Not to be confused with atheism, nihilists believe that we are just spiritless inhabitants of a purposeless world.

People have tried to label this as something extremely regrettable, and blame the glamourisation of popular culture of a growing sense of disconnect and absurd existentialism among young people. Then again, most people who think so are also writing articles about how millennials are killing the movie business.

The truth is that at a point in time where education is rising, and students aren’t just passive absorbers of static knowledge, we are thinking about things. Most of us live privileged lives, and when we don’t have to worry about having a roof over our head or 4 square meals a day, existentialism creeps up. Why am I here? What can I do to make in impact? How do I ensure people remember me?For so long religion and philosophy have tried to answer these questions, and failed. Religion is riddled with dogma and restriction, Philosophy offers no solace simply because it’s too time consuming and needs in depth knowledge.

But why has this curiosity converted into a lack thereof: an acceptance that there are no answers? This is where I tell you that nihilism isn’t necessarily stagnating or negative. There have been a range of Ted Talks on a school of thought called Optimistic Nihilism recently, allow me to simplify. Understanding that the universe is too big to care about whether or not you eat that sugar loaded pastry, bunk that lecture, or finally confess to your crush, can be a good thing. If we have no predetermined purpose, if God doesn’t have a naughty and nice list, it means that we get to dictate our purpose. In other words, if life means nothing, I get to decide what MY life will mean. When I realize that I am responsible for everything I do, and am in control of what I do and why I do it, I live by certain guiding principles and I value my morality.

As millennials and Generation Z, the system has failed us. The American Dream is a lie, and we know that most of us are going to end up average, even our class topper with a perfect 10 CGPA. But average isn’t all that bad when you stop comparing yourself to Gandhi and take control of your thoughts. If you’re reading this article on your phone, you’re educated, you have basic facilities and life is good. You don’t have to be stuck in planning for the future, you can value your education, obsess about the perfect cup of Chai and cherish your student days. More so, keep up the meme making and pick shows like Rick and Morty over the same old uni dimensional F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

Feature Image Credits – Twitter

Nikita Bhatia
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While an ambitious project in itself, the digitisation scheme of the current government is too far-fetched to be completed by 2019, without getting the basics of a fast and efficient cross-country wifi network in place first.

2016 truly gave India a chance to revamp the global lexicon. We came up with our own brand early on—‘Digital India’—and followed it up in the same breath with the inclusion of hefty words such as ‘demonetisation’ and ‘digitisation’. It is all tied to global stardom for the country, a power from above assures us. All this while we fret over our obsolete smartphones and try to find a way out of the maze of payment-related apps being launched every day. The whole of it (constantly amplified by news channels as a fiasco) takes place against the backdrop of Reliance’s Jio confidently announcing the rollback of its free wifi services post March, 2017. India is well and truly on the global platform now. It just has a slight limp.

The premise of digitisation rests singularly on our access to fast and affordable wifi connectivity. While Eastern Europe and countries like Lithuania boast of some of the highest broadband speeds, South Korea passed the hundred per cent wifi penetration mark way back in 2012. These are significant red blinkers for India. It still considers any modest speed above 512 kbps to be ‘broadband’. In other countries, this speed is as high as 10 to 50 mbps. However, an increase in speed and connectivity cannot be achieved overnight. It will involve a complete renovation of the cross-country network of expensive optic fibre pipes which haul the bits and in turn provide the speed. The demand is not just for ‘free’ wifi but efficient wifi.

CP has turned out to be the prime example of things going awry for a scheme which aspires to connect over 2,00,000 villages by 2019. The ground reality is mired in municipality disputes. Despite floating tenders multiple times, the authorities have not heard from respondents for a project which would have made the high-end hangout hub a fully wifi-enabled zone. For now, it’s back to expensive data packs for those of us who can splurge two hundred bucks a month for basic speed. For others, at the moment, even the thought of shelling out a four figure sum for a mobile phone sounds like a nightmare.

Image Credits: Postbazaar.in

Deepannita Misra

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Delhi University is facing a drought in its internet services. The alleged reason for such a situation is a strike by the company providing the services.

The Delhi University Computer Centre serves as the hub for computer related services on the campus. The network, consisting of a gigabit fiber backbone provides connectivity to all departments at the North & South Campuses, all Colleges as well as 64 off campus Colleges.
Services available to users include access to the internet through 36 Mbps bandwidth in North Campus and 24 Mbps in South Campus. The service has been withheld as of now, reasons being unknown. It has been a few months since colleges have reopened and wi fi services in colleges yet remain to be functional.

This has created a lot of problem on the university colleges as students and teachers now have to fund the internet service themselves even though the university spends lakhs on it.As for the preparations for e-learning in FYUP with the coming semester, a doubt remains that with the withheld service whether students would be able to access international scholarly articles and online books.

In a statement published by Neeraj Tyagi, Deputy Dean Works, DU, the University has had no discrepancies in its administrative and financial functions for these services. The problem he said is being caused because of the strike of the service provider. He hopes that the problem will be solved within a week.

imagecourtesy:siliconangle.com

A social media manager is responsible for monitoring and posting to all social media outlets as well as interacting with and growing a company’s audience. The ultimate goal is to raise awareness of the brand, company, product or a person online while driving traffic online, offline or both. Depending on the job, a social media manager is typically associated with brand building through Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, MySpace and corporate blogging.

We all know how important word of mouth is, and social networking is like word of mouth on steroids. As a business, it’s vital to tap into and join online conversations not only about your brand, but also those about your competitors, your industry and your areas of expertise.

Even if you haven’t launched an outbound social media strategy, it helps to keep a pulse on what people are saying — good or bad — about your company, competitors and major trends. And, by representing your company in a positive, authentic way, you can build credibility for your expertise and business and link to customers and prospects quickly. You can also help mitigate damage should negative conversations about your company emerge by quickly responding to complaints.

Also, contrary to popular belief social media management is not only about management but also writing and analyzing. It is an amalgamation of journalism and advertizing. It offers a career in creating content in multiple places, such as a blog, Twitter, a Facebook page, etc.; monitor and scan the views, decide what comments to approve, and respond to replies on these sites, scanning Twitter followers for conversations you may want to join, or checking your RSS reader subscriptions for relevant articles and new ideas. Checking Google Alerts to see when and where your business is mentioned on the Web and creating and monitoring a community and topics on a site such as Facebook or LinkedIn

However, social media management in India is still at a nascent stage and not many colleges or institutes offer it as a course. Having said that, there is a lot to explore in this sector and understanding social media at the root level is enough to kick start your career. A lot has to be learned and figured out on the job.  Getting internships at a digital advertizing firm or an online news publication is the best place to start if someone is interested in a career in social media management. Nirali Hingwala, the Content Head at SocialSamosa.com, a website catering to Indian Social media news says, “Initially Social Media Management doesn’t pay off well, because its still evolving, there is lack of good talent in this field with no proper training as the discipline is still not taught in the Indian universities. There are only private courses.”

It’s a great time to break into a social media career. The importance of social media is becoming clear to more companies every day. This means social media managers are in high demand and the market is wide open.

In what seems like the year of revolutionising the Delhi University, we bring to you the next “big thing” to be added to the plethora of changes already in place. So what is this halla baloo all about?  Well, this time around the University seems to be working around and formulating the proposal for coming up with an Online Museum likely to be introduced with the start of the new session from 23rd July.

The project is directly being spearheaded by the Vice Chancellor; the essence seems to be to make the students aware of the historical significance and the cultural importance of the structures they see around them every day. The University houses some of the magnificent structures from the colonial era and has witnessed some landmark historical events like the Gandhi-Irwin pact and the trial of Bhagat Singh in the Delhi Bomb case. Additionally, it would also benefit the correspondence students who don’t come to college that often. In order to throw light on the same and create an enriching environment for the students of Delhi University, the objective of creating such a museum has been formed. There are also plans of putting screens around the campus as display centers of the portal.

One of the officers  from the University was quoted saying , “We are making the audio visual material, related videos for the portal and hopefully will be able to finish it before the new session starts.” Hence, if multimedia is taken as an educational approach in this case, it might be interesting to see how the project spans out in the end.

But what remains to be seen in the days that follow is the befuddling question that accompanies all these never –ending changes. However well-meaning in their intentions, the effective implementation of these plans still continues to bother  and remain a cause of worry for many.

[via Deccan Herald]