Acknowledging social media - about time!

At a time when a social media giant has actually gone ahead and floated its first IPO, staying in oblivion or denial about this evidently powerful force is an absolute act of inanity. Thats why the Pakistan-India Social Media Mela 2012, held in Karachi last weekend was nothing short of a breath of fresh air. The fundamental Pak-India theme of the conference was a fresh angle in itself, as growing trade ties between the two countries have become a much-discussed topic in the economic circles of the two countries. Many in Indian media claim that efforts towards fostering greater communication and interaction between citizens of the two countries can go a long way in establishing trust between the two countries. Lets not forget that historical animosity between the countries has a deep grounding in the extensive distrust between Indians and Pakistanis, and platforms such as the social media go a long way in thawing this to some extent. Besides this, the growing importance of social media in business and corporate circles cannot be undermined either. With topics focused on emerging brands and the social media, and themes such as public relations and marketing, the power of this emerging tool as a force to reckon with was soundly established. Through websites such as Twitter and Facebook, companies are now looking into establishing brand identities either directly or subliminally via these below-the-line tactics. In fact, the blogging world is also expanding in Pakistan, with companies allocating a portion of their marketing budgets to encourage more talks about their products and services in the blogosphere. Other interesting topics that got a share in the conference was the evolving role of the media, with topics like "Twitter is the new newsroom: The changing face of journalism" bringing to light the fact that ew journalism had been given birth to through this interactive website where tweets broadcast news and views faster and as powerfully as traditional media. Yet, its not all hunky-dory when one talks about social media and the conference deserves credit for shedding light on this through panel discussions on topics such as internet bullying, and the social media roll (a term used for someone who indulges in unnecessary, irrelevant online discussions). Crowd Funding was another interesting highlight of the conference. This involves fundraising, the social way for social projects, whereby people voluntarily contribute towards a project with a cause. In fact, Indian film director Onir worked on a movie on child abuse, getting his funding from 400 co-producers who were actually regular people who contributed anything above Rs 1,000 for the film. The entire concept of fundraising could see an up-haul in line with this new trend. At the same time, the role of social media in politics was also duly highlighted, since the platform has been quite fruitful in fuelling thoughts of change, especially amongst the youth of the country. All in all, the efforts towards giving some recognition to the force of social media in Pakistan and India are, indeed, laudable. Even though some in the local media have been critical of the event, simulating it with kitty-parties, one should never forget that this is one rapidly evolving and changing facet of the world as we know today. There is as much a virtual world with its own populace and their view points and inferences, as there is the real world we live in today.