Dr. Banarsi Lal
In present era social media is the buzzword. Social media is now a mainstream form of communication around the world and continues to grow in popularity with the increase in the number of smart-phones. We have never before had such a powerful tool to connect with the billions of people across the globe. In the present age of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), the life of modern man has changed. Need of current, authentic and relevant information is a key issue of any nation. Social media have become the fulcrum of social interaction in both the rural and urban areas. It has been observed that ICTs have significant impact on the rural development by mediating the flow of modern technology and also in updating the knowledge and skills at the grassroots level. Smart mobile phone has become the choice of the people at a mass scale as it is being used in both the rural and urban areas. It has become an important medium in the dissemination of information even in the far-flung areas of the nation. Among the various social media Facebook and Whatsapp have become the prime choice of the people across the globe. The genesis of Facebook was traced in 2004 when a Harvard University student, Mark Zuckerberg developed media platform said to be Facebook to connect with the other students. Presently, Facebook has become the promising media and India is the largest Facebook users in the world. India is followed by the USA and Brazil. The users are increasing across the globe. Twitter, a micro-blogging site is also a very important social media and one can express 140 characters or less through it. Another important social media is YouTube which was created in 2005 by Steve Chen and Chad Hurley by which we can share the videos. For the professionals and academicians LinkedIn and Research gate are the best social media. Google has recently launched its own version of social media which is said to be Google+ which is similar to Facebook. Basically social media is a way to build relations, share information and connect with different kinds of people from different places who may never meet you in real life. Social media helps to develop a community of one’s own type which was not possible in our past time. Agriculture is very important for the Indian economy. Technology awareness, computer literacy and usage of smart phones and internet are increasing across the nation. Social media in agriculture is playing a very effective role in dissemination of different agricultural information. It helps to bridge a geographical distance between the farmers of different places. There are more than 100 Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) based initiatives such as e-Choupal, e-aqua, Digital Green etc which have been launched in India for the development of agriculture and rural development. Many of them have won accolades nationally and internationally for their innovative methodologies for the rural development. Social media can be understood in different perspectives and we all should know the precise definition of social media. Various scholars define it in different ways. Most of the people believe that social network is linked with social-networking sites, micro-blogging, various internet forms etc. Any media which interact with the public at some level, be it community radio, television etc. have the social responsibility. This is a very important responsibility as it influences the development of the society. Media cannot shirk from the social responsibility and thus making all the prominent media networks as social media networks. The mass media such as TV, radio, newspaper etc are indispensable and encourage people to express their views. The media should involve the people for planning the various developmental programmes and schemes. The media varies from country to country and region to region. We should focus on the fundamental problem in rural India. Role of mass media is extremely important for the lot of citizens of rural areas where the benefits of internet are not reaped properly. Social media and rural development are linked together and there is need to make some deliberations on modern day media with the traditional media. Rural development in general is used to define the action taken for improving the standard of the people. Agricultural activities are prominently considered in this direction. India is having complex society with different cultures, castes, languages and there is disparity between the rural and urban people. Diverse social and infrastructural needs of the rural people must be addressed simultaneously to ensure the prosperity of the nation. After independence India has grown a strong nation and its economy is rapidly improving. The development is not a linear process but a multifaceted system. From time to time India has started various programmes and schemes for the development of rural areas. Unlike the Europe’s there is not systematic growth in the industrial sector in India. This can be due to large size of the nation. Private sector has also taken various initiatives for the development of rural areas. Despite various steps taken by the government and non-government organization (NGOs), rural India still lacks proper education, sanitation, health care, sports facilities etc. In order to get the prosperity and sustainable growth of the nation rural development is must. Social media have affected rural people in all spheres of their life. Time and again Social Networking Systems (SNS) have found a way and realized the potential to become pioneers in rural development. Various Indian social media have committed the farmers for the dissemination of timely and constructive agricultural and allied sectors information to them. Print media is also playing a crucial role for the dissemination of agricultural information to the literate farmers. Scope of print media is increasing with the increase in the literacy rate in India. Agricultural journalism is rapidly growing in India. With the digitalization, rural India has also started to connect globally. Now the rural people can lodge their complaints through the online public grievance system. ICTs can overcome the problems of infrastructure especially areas .For instance, if online work, payment or trade are available in villages then the obstacle of roads can be overcome as there are limited resources of transportation in the far-flung rural areas. If capital is made available in the villages through the network system, then the financing for the village infrastructure would become easy. But there is the problem of digital divide which refers the gap between the information haves and have-nots. Internet has become an important aspect in our lives for banking, purchasing and exchanging of ideas. Internet has reduced our traditional blockages in trade industry. Through internet we can access the information of any nation in the world. Social media can provide the platform for the rural people where their grievances can be heard easily. The right to development in rural areas is feasible only when they will get the timely and accurate information. Through social media we can get the information in a speedy way and information can reach to the mass in seconds. There are certain limitations in social media. Around 70 per cent of people in India live in rural areas with limited access to modern internet infrastructure. In urban areas much of the population is active online. How the social media can work in the areas where there are no computers and smart-phones? The social media has really changed the lives of the rural people. Social media helps the farmers to sail there produce at good prices without involvement of middlemen. Health sector has also benefitted the rural people by the use of social media. Whatsapp video calls are sometimes very useful specially in sharing the useful information. Social media like Twitter and Facebook has connected the people across the globe. Many of the Indian villages are deprived of regular supply of electricity and the internet connectivity is still a farfetched dream for these areas but still there are various success stories where Facebook, the famous social networking site has helped rural people to make a difference in their lives. Facebook once helped various turmeric growers from Maharashtra. The Whatsapp groups of different crops growers can share their information each other. Due to the oversupply of turmeric in the market the rates were reduced by which the farmers were suffering. Then one of the farmers of the area discussed over the turmeric price with the other farmers of the country on Facebook. Then the other farmers of the area didn’t participate in the local auction of turmeric. 25000 turmeric growers heard the boycott. After sometimes the price of turmeric was doubled. Social media can also help the farmers to connect with the agri-dealers, weather advisories etc. and new agricultural methodologies can be exchanged by the farmers. Agricultural Information on social media is scattered and complex to understand for the farmers. The agricultural information should be very simple with self-explanatory figures so that farmers can easily understand it. In order the harness the potential of social media especially for the rural areas, appropriate policy framework and mechanism should be developed. We have the opportunity to bring the world to our farm gate and connect the farmers with the consumers with authenticity.
(The author is Head,
KVK Reasi SKUAST-J).