Role of Social Media on Development

1422 Words6 Pages
Social Media (SM) is playing an increasingly important role in international development, impacting political movements, social interaction and economic development. It has economically empowered underclass individuals; farmers in developing countries are able to make cost effective decisions due to the IFC’s (International Financial Corporation) initiative of broadcasting current market information regarding prices via SM1. SM has begun to play a significant role in helping NGO’s (non-governmental organisations) achieve their goals. NGOs promote global development by addressing various issues such as the livelihood of children (Save the Children) and poverty eradication (DFID/ActionAid). Irrespective of individual aims, NGOs form projects which promote sustainable development by focusing on social enterprise and strengthening society. A growing number of NGOs are using SM to achieve their goals. With over 1.15bn Facebook, 1.10bn Google+ and 500mn Twitter users3, spending over 40 minutes a day on these sites4, NGOs can easily inform, persuade and network with a large audience effectively. The use of SM increases the speed, ease and efficiency of NGOs projects, proving its success as a tool for NGOs to use to progress towards global development5. Existing literature focuses on the effects NGOs have on development and the increasing role of SM in NGOs. However, the impact of SM on NGOs’ aims has not been measured. Hence, this research project will address the following question: Does SM directly impact the ability of NGOs to achieve their goals of promoting global development? This research project is a comparison multiple-unit study as data from 35 UK based NGOs will be collected. This data will be used to analyse the change in certain factors following the implementation of SM. This is a longitudinal research design (panel) as the same sample (35 NGOs) will be
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