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Growing Success of Social Media Influencers in India

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We live in a society where communication is continuously driven by social media websites. Here is a look at how social media has helped many influencers break the barriers of pursuing traditional and conventional paths to follow their passion.

The advent of globalisation in the world paved the way for a manifold of inventions that contributed both positively and negatively to our society. One of the most popular things to materialise out of it was the inception of social media. Social media began as a form of virtual communication created on a computer-mediated technology that would allow it’s users to share ideas, interests, etc. However, over the years the ambit of social media has increased exponentially and it has taken the world by storm.

Social media has evolved to such an extent that it has allowed a few individuals to gain a certain amount of credibility on the various platforms like Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. Influencers in social media are people who have built a reputation for their knowledge and expertise on a particular topic like comedy, beauty, lifestyle, gaming, etc. They make regular posts about that subject matter on their preferred social media channels and generate a large following of enthusiastic and engaged people who pay close attention to their content. Due to the websites being open to advertisements, the influence that was accumulated by these influencers started to result in monetary benefits. People soon started to recognise the power of social media as a great contributor to the economy and a lot of individuals made their work on these websites their full-time jobs. Many influencers from western countries like Troye Sivan, Liza Koshy, and Lily Singh transitioned into working for big brands like Beats, Pantene, Vogue and landed roles in the mainstream Hollywood industry.

Although India was late to catch on to the trend, social media influencers in India have now gained prominence and etched their mark in this industry. Despite the perception of the society when it comes to social media, the following influencers have become highly successful:

Biswa Kalyan Rath
Biswa is an Indian stand-up comedian and Youtuber who gained eminence through a YouTube-based comedy series called Pretentious Movie Reviews which received millions of views and went extremely viral. The witty remarks and his awkward personality charmed the audience. Biswa now goes on national sold-out tours as a stand-up comedian and has also written his own Amazon Prime Original Series named Laakhon Mein Ek.

Image Credits: Kinabika
Image Credits: Kinabika

Kanan Gill
Kanan’s road to fame can also be credited to the YouTube comedy series Pretentious Movie Reviews, in which he collaborated with Biswa. After gaining a significant following Kanan Gill has landed roles in mainstream Bollywood movies and national commercials.

Image Credits: Kanan Gill on Facebook
Image Credits: Kanan Gill on Facebook

All India Bakchod (AIB)
AIB is an Indian comedy sketch group which was founded by Gursimram Khamba, Tanmay Bhatt, Rohan Joshi, and Ashish Shakya. Their high production comedy sketches go viral on YouTube. Due to their popularity, big actors like Alia Bhatt, Kangana Ranaut, Irrfan Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, and Ranbir Kapoor have starred in their videos. They have also written scripts for many award shows.

Image Credits: AIB
Image Credits: AIB

Carry Minati
Ajay Nagar is one of the most famous gaming YouTubers in India. His funny parodies of recent pop culture trends have helped him amass over 2.3 million subscribers on YouTube at the young age of 18 years.

Image Credits: Carry Minati
Image Credits: Carry Minati

BB Ki Vines
Bhuvan Bam is one of the most trending Indian YouTubers. His display of numerous hilarious characters in a series of short videos has helped him gain over 5 million subscribers. Bhuvan has also gone on to release multiple songs.

Image Credits: BB Ki Vines
Image Credits: BB Ki Vines

Shreya Jain
Shreya Jain is one of the very few females who can be known as an Indian Beauty Guru. She is currently pursuing a language course in Urdu from St. Stephens College, University of Delhi. She has worked with many domestic and international cosmetic brands like Nykaa, Maybelline, P.A.C Cosmetics, and several Korean beauty companies. Her channel includes a variety of makeup tutorials and DIY videos.

Image Credits: Zimbio
Image Credits: Zimbio

Sejal Kumar
Sejal Kumar, a Shri Ram College of Commerce alumni, is a lifestyle YouTuber and fashion blogger who is famous for her vlog-style fashion videos and beautifully put together travel video montages. She has recently started uploading song covers on her channel.

Image Credits: Sejal Kumar
Image Credits: Sejal Kumar

That Boho Girl- Kritika Khurana
Kritika Khurana, or more popularly known as That Boho Girl, is a household name when it comes to fashion blogging. Her online blog, which is called Thatbohogirl, gained immense popularity as she essentially transitioned to Instagram and Youtube where she posts extremely aesthetically pleasing pictures and videos on fashion and styling.

Image Credits: Kritika Khurana
Image Credits: Kritika Khurana

Feature Image Credits: Daily Social

Bhavya Banerjee
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Arts & Culture

10 Women You Must Follow On Social Media

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These women are magazine editors, models, researchers, engineers, writers, and more. They promote feminism and support an array of causes all the while being extremely good at what they do. Follow them for a daily dose of inspiration.

  1. Elaine Welteroth is the former editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue. Under her leadership, Teen Vogue has been writing out-of-the-box, political, and revolutionary pieces that provide teen girls the right kind of content in order to grow. Her Instagram features photos of her at Women’s Marches, participating and advocating for the cause of women and minorities.
  2. Imaan Sheikh is a Dubai based Buzzfeed writer. Her social media activity includes sharing hard-hitting pieces along with light content. Given the nature of work-profile, she is updated with the current news. She is witty and has well-formed opinions on most current issues that are expressed with humour.
  3. Dr. Jane Goodall is a British primatologist and is considered to be the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees. Her work on animal conservation is legendary and her joining Instagram was a way to connect the newer generation with her work. Dr. Goodall is highly respected, acclaimed, and admired. Following her on social media would be a great way to know more about the life and work of a woman of who is regarded as a living legend.
  4. Twinkle R. Khanna is a writer, producer, and columnist. She writes about gender and is outspoken on twitter regarding issues close to her heart. Khanna belongs to a new tribe of Indian celebrities who do not shy from having a public stance on political issues.
  5. IronRing Girls is an Instagram handle that encourages women to pursue STEM courses, especially engineering and gives them tips and tricks to stand out in these male-dominated spheres. Engineers in Canada upon graduation are given an iron ring something that has become a matter of immense pride today, hence the name of the handle. IronRingGirls, run by Civil Engineer Mina Dezz, shares memes on engineering, tips on how to ace interviews, time management, and self-improvement. Women are highly under-represented in the field of STEM and this page tries to motivate women to keep going by sharing relatable and motivational content.
  6. Aranya Johar is a 19-year-old slam poet and social media activist based in Mumbai. Johar is active on Instagram and often uses stories to update people on current issues. What makes following her even more interesting is the fact that she acknowledges her mistakes and willingly updates people after researching on a particular incident if her knowledge of the subject is limited. Her candor and honesty make it easier to grasp the content shared by her.
  7. Michele Obama, the former First Lady of the United States, is a proud South Side Chicago girl. Her activism has not dwindled even after moving out from the White House. She writes about her personal adventures, about the Obama Foundation, all the while bringing up and thanking the strong women in her life on her social media handles.
  8. Paula Brostein is a global photojournalist and author. She posts photos from refugee camps and documents their losses, gains, small joys, and stories. Her work is touching and brilliant and her brand of storytelling puts things in perspective.
  9. Ashley Graham is a model and body positivity activist. She promotes the idea of beauty beyond size and has fiercely promoted a raw and authentic version of herself on social media. Her Instagram includes aspects of her that some would see as “imperfections”, but Graham embraces these aspects of herself and encourages her followers to do the same.
  10. Mindy Kaling is a comedian and actress who actively promotes feminism on her social media handles. Photos from the women’s march, quotes from Cher, along with a healthy dose of humour is what one can expect from Kaling’s Instagram.These women have created a significant impact on the lives of people around them. With the rise of the internet, social media activism is becoming a more legitimate platform to debate and discuss. Following the right people on platforms where we spend a large chunk of our time, can make our idle scrolling educational.

 

Feature Image Credits: Boston Magazine

Kinjal Pandey
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DUB Speak

Lessons from My Social Media Sabbatical

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A small break taken from all social media platforms during examinations taught me a valuable lesson- that social media platforms are branding and marketing tools that are addictive, make us materialistic, and negatively affect our self-esteem. After all, it has been rightly said that if it is free, and you are the product.

After I had wasted three days out of the nine-day gap I had before my English examination, a sense of guilt and shame crept on me. Not only had I not studied the whole semester, I had the audacity to not study during the exams as well! I had to seize control in order to score reasonably well in my examinations. To say that uninstalling Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat was an act of courage may sound like an exaggeration but for someone who spent their days glued on their phone, this is how it felt. What happened next made me feel like I was part of an elaborate social experiment. After the initial itch where I craved the distractions that my phone provided, I settled into a more peaceful and productive routine. My days seemed longer, I had more time in my hands, and my time on the internet was spent on watching Al Pacino recite the iconic “Hath not a Jew eyes” monologue from Merchant of Venice instead of watching stories of my friends dancing in some shady club. But this was exactly the purpose of my break and therefore I wasn’t completely surprised. I did expect to have more time in my hands because of my break. What I did not expect were the additional benefits/effects that my sabbatical had on my behavior.

I experienced the oddest sense of relief from this short break that I took. The desire to have a fabulous life, the feeling that I was wasting my golden years away cooped up in a hostel room suddenly went away. Social media gave me a sense of inadequacy in all spheres of my life- that I am not fit enough, fun enough, spontaneous enough, don’t party enough, don’t vacation enough, don’t shop enough, and much more. The desire to keep up appearance, to make my life look better, suddenly went away. I didn’t see other people stage their lives in order to look better and therefore did not feel the need to do the same as well. As shallow as it may sound, most of us curate various aspects of our lives in order to look better on a screen and the pressure and inadequacy that comes with it can be draining. Social media is a great way to document our lives but a terrible barometer to evaluate our self-worth.

Another aspect of my life that changed drastically was my consumption and purchase pattern. A large number of advertisements made me buy things I did not necessarily need or at times, even want. A 50% off banner on a red dress or the image of scrumptious chocolatey dessert from a food delivery app tempted me to buy things I did not want. But of course, I could not buy everything I liked and things I could not buy I ended up coveting, thus spending my energy on coveting, buying, regretting and so on. It was a vicious cycle that made me feel trapped; I didn’t want to miss out on the good deals and therefore not buying things made me feel anxious as well. A lack of control over my finances was the consequence of this capitalistic system that controlled me and made me feel careless and irresponsible. But it was when I took a break from social media that I experienced a sense of profound relief. Nothing could tempt me—  no sale, no dessert, no magical blackhead clearing scrub, I was above petty materialism. Out of sight, out of mind was an adage that became true for me. Not constantly being bombarded with advertisements gives us considerable satisfaction, and I speak from experience. Social media constantly reminds us of what we don’t have and a break from that is always a pleasure.

Not being controlled by my phone had so many other positive effects- I went to bed on time, managed to keep my surroundings cleaner, talked to my roommates and the people around me more, and took more walks outdoors than before, and all this during exam time! Taking a break from a study session did not mean a ten-minute scroll though my Instagram feed anymore, it meant calling up my best friend or making a cup of tea. I felt relaxed, more in control of my life, and happier in general. My exam preparation went considerably better than I expected and all in all, I felt like my life was more sorted.

It has been rightly said that if something is free, you are the product. I fully understood the gravity of this statement in the context of social media when I took a break from it. Social media is a genie which will enslave you if you do not control it. Stepping back from social media is a healthy practise but its greatest benefit is that it teaches us that the world does not revolve around us, something that all of us should be reminded of from time to time.

Kinjal Pandey

[email protected]

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DUB Speak

About My Abstinence From Social Media

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Recently, I realised that I have become addicted to social media. The signs had been all there. I found myself scrolling through Facebook and Instagram inadvertently most of the time. I could not stop the urge to open my social media accounts every half an hour and check the new updates.

I would like to use the term ‘addiction’ for this urge because that is exactly what this is. We, without even realising, slowly become addicted to the social media. We like to know what is happening in someone else’s life with whom we might have not even exchanged more than few words. Subconsciously we even start comparing our lives with theirs and become disheartened by how different or unadventurous our lives are. This, as I clearly do not need to point out is all but a facade. We realize the truth and from time to time even put a check on ourselves. There is a brief moment of clarity where we decide to abstain from social media. Alas! We “rush to fall into snares of delusion all over again.”

So when I had this brief moment of clarity about a month back, I decided to delete all social media applications from my mobile phone. This time my decision was firm to not revert to old ways. However, I did not delete my accounts. I also had to keep my WhatsApp because well, it is an occupational hazard. Since I could open my accounts only on my laptop, the access to them was restricted due to the inconvenience involved. The first week was hard, I must say. But after the fifteenth day, I realised that I had more time on my hands. I finally took to reading some of the books which I had not been able to time for. Without the distraction of the chaotic world of social media, I also found time to put into words some of the ideas that had been floating around in my head.

Yes, I agree that it is not possible to completely avoid social media. In fact I believe that one shouldn’t so because in a way or so they are essential too. But what I have discerned in some past few weeks is that we allow ourselves to get completely hooked to it. One of the reasons might be that we are seeking too much validation from everyone around us. Perhaps, this best explains our constant need to upload snippets from our lives for everyone to see. Some days back, I read about a study from Microsoft Corporation in a TIME article. It said that since 2000 the average attention span has dropped from 12 seconds to 8 seconds. This essentially means that even a goldfish known for being ill-focussed has a longer attention span at nine seconds. So I hope that if you too are suffering from this addiction, you decide to take a step towards curbing it. I assure you from my experience that life will become more productive and meaningful.

 

Feature Image Credits: Matthew Muccio

Anukriti Mishra
[email protected]

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QWERTY

Qwerty: 5 Tips to Increase Engagement on Social Media

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Whether it is for a business, a client, or even for yourself, social media platforms can be a helpful tool to reach out to a wide audience. But maintaining reach can be tough, so here are some handy tips to help increase engagement!

The term ‘engagement’ in the social media world refers to the measurement of likes, shares, and comments, and it is an important aspect within digital marketing because more engagement gets the user more reach. Engagement in social media is a powerful instrument that can help achieve a larger viewership for your venture, and for young students like us, it is difficult to splurge money on sponsoring posts. So here are some tips to organically increase engagement on your posts –

  • Call to action: Adding a simple instruction at the end of your post can get the viewer excited, assigns a purpose to your post, and brings attention to the highlight of your content. The call to action in your everyday post could be a simple hyperlinked ‘Click here for more’ to your website or can be an elaborate content or promotional activity.
  • Engaging images: Visually pleasing posts with mediocre textual content catch a viewer’s attention faster than mediocre pictures with brilliantly written text. Make sure the images you post are clean, follow the rule of thirds, and with adjusted contrast. Any sort of text on the graphic or picture should be as minimal as it can be – more text can be added to the post but the images best look neat.
  • Ask questions: Likes are easy to get as compared to comments. Hence, asking an open-ended question at the end of your post can spark a viewer’s interest and make them leave a comment, or even tag a buddy. Fun, light questions can be a part of the copy or the post for this purpose.
  • Hashtags: An important tool for reaching out to more people (than just those who follow you), hashtags may seem overdone in today’s time but are still extremely useful with engagement on social media. Pro tip: don’t use more than three hashtags on Twitter and use a maximum of 30 on Instagram.
  • Check insights: A vital ritual to practice frequently, checking insights and stats on your posts can prove to be very helpful. Figure out what works and create more of that content, and also note down what doesn’t work and avoid making the same mistakes again.

 

Feature Image Credits: ActOn

Anagha Rakta

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DUB Speak

Social media and How it Impacts Our Self-Esteem

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When we spend hours on social media, looking at the filtered and edited versions of our loved ones, we become prone to compare our worst self to their carefully thought out versions of themselves and consequentially our self-esteem takes a hit. Read to find out how to recognise and avoid such behaviour.

Social media is a carefully constructed façade where every aspect of people’s lives is edited, filtered, and tweaked to perfection. We have a tendency to compare our current state- not having showered for the second day in a row, eating potato chips on the bed- to this carefully crafted version of others and consequentially our self-loathing is strengthened. What we do not take into account is that this version of our friends and acquaintances that we see on social media is not their most authentic self; a lot of time, effort, and good photography skills went into its creation. People’s representation of their lives is highly selective: the happy moments and achievements are milked to the fullest, failures and heartbreaks are not even talked about.  It becomes easy to then feel inadequate and let our self-esteem take a hit.

With the rise of Instagram, an entire market catering to beauty and aesthetics has been born.  The word “instagrammable”, which means something being beautiful enough to go on Instagram, is now used casually in everyday conversations. Everything ranging from cafés and food, to clothing and holiday locations are now clubbed on the basis of how “instagrammable” they are. Our lives are controlled by how it would look on social media. With the advent of stories, and with their exclusivity being lost to Snapchat, the intrusiveness of social media in our everyday lives has increased even more. Social media today is more engaging than it ever was and consequentially the amount of time we dedicate to it has also increased. As we spend more and more time admiring and envying others for how seemingly perfect their lives appear to be, we stray from the reality of our own lives and any sense of pride that we had for it, also slowly dying out. Our worth is not defined by who we are anymore; it is in fact viewed in relative terms now. “How do I stack up against X?” or “Am I having as much fun as Y does?” are seemingly legitimate thoughts that enter our minds. We are slowly choking our individuality and allowing conformity to seep more and more into our lives. We forget that people do not just post on social media to document their lives, they do so to cement a certain image of their in the minds of others. As much as they want to document the beautiful times they had on a trip, they also want to look like they are having fun. The amount of effort that people put into social media needs to be accounted for every time we look down on ourselves for our internal self not matching the perfected the version of someone else. This inadequacy is not limited to appearance anymore. Academic success, the kind of internships secured, choice of college for post-graduation and for adults the success and well-being of their children also give people bragging rights on social media. Envy has always been a part of human interaction and relationships and the idea of “keeping up with the Joneses” so to speak is not relatively new.  But with the rise of social media, the desire to lead an enviable life has become more prominent than before. Everyone we know and care about (and don’t care about) is connected with us on social media. “Stalking”, or rummaging through someone’s account to look for specific information, is also a relatively common activity amongst millennials now. The pressure to look interesting, good-looking, intelligent, successful, and fun is therefore omnipresent.

While research has linked excessive social media usage to low self-esteem, this research is also relatively new, with its long-term effects not completely known as of yet. But this cultural shift that the past decade has witnessed is going to be significant for mankind. And for all the boons that come with social media, none of them are worth losing our sense of individuality, happiness, and pride over it. Not only should we constantly remember the artificiality of social media, we should also aim to be more authentic and true to ourselves on these platforms. It is easy to pity ourselves after stalking the most interesting and good-looking person we know for half an hour. But our pride and self-esteem are integral and foundational blocks of our idea of self and we must preserve them at all costs. We need to actively seek positivity on social media and never forget to stay true to ourselves; this is the only way to preserve our sanity and happiness amongst the filtered lies we are bombarded with every day.

Kinjal Pandey

[email protected]

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DUB Speak

How to Reduce Social Media Usage before Exams

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One of the biggest hurdles towards effective studying during the exam season is the internet. In particular, social media seems to be impossible to avoid. Here are a few tips on resisting the temptation to avoid checking the screen all the time.

There need not be any elaboration on the point that social media is a major irritant during exam time. It’s one of the most intense love-hate relationships of modern times. We love the fact that we can collectively laugh at the typos, puns, wordplays, and even at death and depression in the form of memes. We can connect with best friends and those we love over distances. We simultaneously also hate the feelings of anxiousness and nervousness we get as we wait for important replies, the feeling of emptiness when we see nothing new as we refresh our feeds at 2 a.m., and when we realise that we are way more dependent on social media than we should be.

While one should ideally reduce social media usage for general mental well-being and one’s eyesight, the fact that it distracts people from their exams that are to take place in a month will probably be the biggest encouragement people need. So as exams are nearing, here are some general precautions you can take to stop your validation-seeking, FOMO-avoiding (that’s Fear Of Missing Out, for all you acronym illiterates) side from running to the warm embrace of red notification pops, waiting to be clicked on.

Firstly, notice which apps you spend the most time on. Whatever they are, uninstall them. If you cannot seem to do so, then limit your use. Set time limits mentally, or set alarms if you can’t seem to check on yourself. Realise that memes and Instagram feeds will remain even after you’ve finished studying and that they will have no contribution in telling you the pointers of that 5 marker.

Note what kind of things make you spiral out of control. If they are YouTube videos, set limits on the amount you see. If they are WhatsApp messages, then mute your notifications or switch your internet off when you’re not on your phone. Whatsapp usage is actually easier to reduce nowadays. Why? Those ugly new emojis, obviously. (sorry for the burn, WhatsApp, but it’s true and we all think so.)

Finally, if you have zero self-control, then appoint a friend to police you and send reminders to stop scrolling. It might seem a little intense but if you’ve read this far into the article, you might need it. Remember, a friend in need during times of no restraint, is a friend indeed.

Image Credits: Sagoon

Rishika Singh

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Uncategorized

Is The Idea Of Privacy Just An Illusion?

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At a time when everyone is demanding Right to Privacy as a Fundamental Right, it is important to understand how much do we actually follow the concept of privacy in our day to day life.

Ours is a generation that is obsessed with putting all our information on the social media platforms. We find ourselves juggling between Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat, or Twitter. Somehow just one platform is not enough for us to keep our thoughts and ideas across. We are a generation that believes in clicking the photo of food on the table first before eating it. We believe in telling the entire world about our personal life by updating our relationship status on Facebook. We are trying to maintain Snapchat streaks alive and keep a check on the exact time when the other person read our Whatsapp message. We do not understand the concept of boundaries. We like to tell the entire world the place we are visiting, the food we are eating, the dress we are wearing, the song we are listening, the emotions we are feeling, and the list goes on.

There is nothing about our life that we really want to keep private. This paranoia does not stop here. We are equally eager about to know the personal details of someone else’s life too. We are not satisfied till we know all the secrets of our favourite celebrities. We stalk them while trying to capture a moment from their private life. We hide behind bushes and resort to sneaky measures in order to photograph them in their personal moments.

Recently, my sister who is a teacher decided to conduct an examination. She was bombarded with messages from her students throughout the night asking her to clarify their doubts. She finally had to switch off her mobile in order to have a peaceful sleep. Another time I was having a conversation regarding some official work on WhatsApp when an old friend of mine messaged me. I did not have the time to engage in a conversation with him at that moment. Hence, I decided not to reply. However, when he saw that I was online and still chose not to text back, he was deeply offended. Thus we as a generation, have lost the understanding of how to respect someone else’s private space. We expect the other person to cater to our needs immediately, refusing to even have a consideration of their circumstances.

Hence, it is important to ask the question whether there is anything remotely private about our life. Consciously or reluctantly we are becoming a part of a culture where the line between public and private is becoming more and more blurred. Even if we try and resist to it, we are able to succeed at it till a certain point only. When I started fighting this battle, I was quite obstinate and stubborn to not let anyone intrude into my personal space and time. However, I find myself constantly facing failure. It is disheartening to see that one cannot help but succumb to this pressure.

 

Feature Image Credits: Kulzy

Anukriti Mishra
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DUB News

Clash of Titans – Debate on Free Speech and Social Media

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With 3 May 2017 being declared as World Press Freedom Day by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the American Center, New Delhi celebrated the month of May to raise awareness about freedom of speech. On the last day of the month, an event was conducted jointly by DU Beat and the American Center – Debate on Free Speech and Social Media – How much is too much? The event brought together debaters from the University of Delhi and the National Law University to speak in support of and against absolute freedom of speech on social media. The debate took place at the American Center, with an interactive audience and listeners who even stood at the back, surpassing seating capacity.

The debate was moderated and judged by Karnika Kohli, Social Media Editor of The Wire, Craig L. Dicker, Cultural Affairs Officer at the Embassy of the United States of America, and Richard E. Pinkham, Director of Programs, North India Office at the Embassy of the United States of America.

The speakers covered a wide range of ideas and topics to support their stance, from allusions to Reliance JIO to details of legal cases. They were asked challenging questions by Ms. Kohli in response to their statements. Additionally, the engaged audience members also gave their inputs and asked the debaters to flesh out their arguments. The passionate speeches left the audience, as well as the judges, in a dilemma with regard to which side to support. As Mr. Dicker stated, he felt “like a ping pong ball” which bounced from side to side with each speech.

At the end of all the speeches, the judges deliberated to announce Abhinav Hansa Raman and Bhishm Khanna of the National Law University as the winners, who argued for and against the motion respectively. The conclusion of the event was followed by a high tea. The entire debate was live-streamed on Facebook and garnered thousands of views.

“It was immensely gratifying to welcome such intelligent students to the American Center so they might contest the appropriate limits of free expression in the realm of social media. I will not be surprised if sometime before long our participants are ?debating the same issue as part of a policy-making exercise. For now, our audience was very fortunate to be able to hear such bright minds argue both sides of this most topical issue. Our thanks to partner DU Beat for organising this excellent session.”
– Richard E. Pinkham

As DU Beat is a platform that has fiercely supported freedom of expression for a decade, it was a privilege to be able to conduct this debate, especially in the current political environment. With mainstream Indian thought becoming increasingly homogenised and peripheral voices being silenced, the debate offered a broader look into the idea of freedom of speech and expression as a whole. A similar scenario is visible in the US, where occurrences of hate speech have become more numerous since the Trump administration came into power. Therefore, this debate could not have been held at a more apt time about such a pertinent subject. We are certain that the event offered food for thought to everyone present and forced them to re-evaluate their presence on social media.

 

Feature Image Credits: Alex Arthur for DU Beat

Vineeta Rana
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Daulat Ram College

Daulat Ram College Innovation Project: Using Social Media for Enhancing Students’ Learning

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In recent times, the use of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Youtube etc has become an integral part of our lives. The new technological developments have made internet an innovative way of communication. Under the University of Delhi Innovation Project Scheme 2015-16, Daulat Ram College undertook Project 307, “An Empirical Study of Using Social Media for Facilitating Effective Students’ Learning”.  The objective of this innovation project is to examine how incorporating social media into teaching process can contribute to students’ learning, engagement, and their academic performance.

TEAM:

Principal Investigators- Ms. Malini Sharma, Ms. Pooja Khanna, Ms. Divya Gupta, Mr. Naresh

Student Members- Akshita Nidhi, Bharti Sharma, Bhavya Gupta, Gunjita Dhingra, Harshita Wadhwa, Hiya Saharia, Shaivya Gupta, Smriti Banati, Snigdha Sharma, Vaishnavi V.G.

In this project, primary data has been collected through an online pre-test and post-test survey administered to a sample of Daulat Ram College students (in the experimental group and the control group). With the experimental group, social media has been used for various types of academic and co-curricular discussions. The two group’s differences in engagement and marks are analyzed using statistical software SPSS. This study investigates the acceptability of social media for collaborative learning and the possibility of using it as an effective teaching tool.

innovation

This project also supports the ‘Digital India Initiative’ of the Government. Incorporating social media in higher studies will have a beneficial effect on both students as well as the teachers. Teachers and students would be able to communicate even after the classes. Teachers would be able to stimulate the thought process of the students by launching dialogs. Through social media we can reach out to the students in remote areas and improve the educational system of the country.

Various workshops and seminars have been conducted under this project to spread awareness regarding positive impact of using media in higher studies. Also extensive surveys have been conducted in schools across Delhi and Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) to analyse the impact the media clubs on students.

innovation-3

The team has presented papers in various conferences and has also won the best paper award. They have presented papers at International Conference of Women Empowerment in Digital India supported by M.P Govt, International Conference at Daulat Ram College sponsored by ICPR, International Conference held at Indian Federation of United Nations Association (IFUNA) and International Conference on Business Management and Social Innovation.

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