8. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

Our research confirms that the interaction between people and social networking technology has changed and will change the way people communicate about issues and behaviours that impact on HIV vulnerability across the globe. It also answers one of the key questions in this research which is that young people in non-OECD countries actively social network using digital technologies when it becomes affordable and practical for them. In this chapter we summarise what we have learned about the implications of this new environment for communication professionals.

Digital and generational divides

We have seen that in areas of the world where there is relatively cheap, reliable and fast access to the Internet and other forms of digital communication young people aged 15-25 are using digital technology, particularly social media, differently than their predecessor generations. Digitally enabled social media play a central role in their communication and lives. In the context of the global fight against AIDS, this research has also been looking at the extent to which this is already, or likely soon to become, relevant to those parts of the world where cost or technical constraints limit people’s access to such tools. Constraints are very real to millions of people, but they are nonetheless slowly becoming less significant and this trend is likely to accelerate, for several reasons

• The explosion in the use of and access to mobile phones and networks;
• Long standing plans for investment in new infrastructure being realised, such as the fibre-optic cables landing this year in East Africa;
• Governments, donors and multilateral institutions recognise the central role of digital communication and continue to invest in capacity and training (for those living in poor communities; more should be done) 
• Competition in many markets is intense, forcing down cost and, to a certain extent, rewarding innovation;
• Growth in prosperity and leisure time in fast-growing countries such those in parts of Asia.

The crucial change is that those people who are connected, whether by phone or through the Internet, have reached a new plateau in terms of how they engage with their social network and the external world. Subtle variations aside, economic and social developments in non-OECD countries along with trends in telecommunications and digital technology are likely to increase significantly access to digitally enabled social media platforms over the next 5 to 10 years. The recommendations in this report address those growing connected populations in the belief that the forward-looking nature of aids2031 means we must consider the opportunities and risks of this new reality.

The growth and usage of social media follows the same pattern as previous generations of digital media in that people are using or subverting the technology for their own social purposes. The primary focus of this report is people and how their social behaviour is shaping and being shaped by technology. What emerges from the research is that people replicate and extend patterns of face-to-face social networking whatever technology is available. South African school students, for example, are using mobile phones for the majority of their communication. They mainly use SMS with each other but also interact with friendship networks using the phone enabled SNS MxIT. It is striking how they are operating with their friendship groups and wider networks in ways similar to Orkut users in Brazil, or Indian users of Hi5 or Ibibo or European users of Bebo. They hang out, arrange events, flirt and exchange media using their phones. They consume multiple-media, often in short ‘nuggets’, and they are multi-tasking whilst browsing their favoured media, commenting and sharing with their friends as they consume. They are able to move rapidly from one platform to another, although this fluidity across platforms does not imply literacy across platforms.

How old are you, the reader, and why is that important?

This is a difficult subject to broach in a report for communication professionals but it is critical. If you are under 25 then you are probably already engaged in a lot of this already and you can see how you would implement it. If you are under 35 you may well be using it, and are likely to be more influential so you are a key change agent. If you are over 35, and not a technical specialist or neo-geek, then our experience is that you are more likely to be sceptical about the importance of this area, possibly see it as a passing fashion, and certainly to question whether the organisation or group you work with should change the way that you work. Your position may be influenced by the limitations of your own direct experience: you may be amazed at how like your own parents you sound when you talk to young people you know about why they spend so much time online, and media-snack all the time (‘How can you work with that music on” and “GET OFF THE PHONE”).  You may be engaging gingerly with sites such as Linked-in, or noting how people are engaging with social aspects of blogs or broadcast sites. Yet you are also more likely to be a budget holder and have influence on other management decisions so your willingness to learn and be persuaded by evidence is crucial. (If you are over 60, with time on your hands and good access to the Internet, then you are increasingly likely to be delightedly discovering the new media.)

Web 2.0 and Social-Network Aware

Online social networking is a web 2.0 phenomenon therefore communicators need to operate in Web 2.0 aware ways. The underlying principles are rehearsed in a myriad of websites and manuals, although not always accessibly.⁸⁷ We summarise the key elements in Chapter 3 above. The central point for communicators is that Web 2.0 reflects a state of mind as much as a set of technical features: informal; participative; playful; careless of copyright and applauding innovative re-combinations of content; encouraging of self-promotion while developing and negotiating new norms of privacy; social; and many more. The combination of features and mindset results in an identifiable culture within which traditional communication can appear clumsy, alien and forced.

Agenda setting and Buzz generation

Among Web 2.0 aware organisations, individuals and campaigns – as well as advertisers and marketers – a consensus on good practice and effective engagement with the Web 2.0 spaces has emerged over the past four or five years. In essence it involves strategically embedding the issue the communicator wishes to raise awareness of into the matrix of overlapping online spaces and services that make up the social web. Those communicators who are adept at this operate like an energetic honey bee, visiting blogs, reference and tagging sites (e.g. Digg, Stumble upon) alongside SNS, adding value to such sites by increasing traffic to them from their home pages and leaving traces that track back to them. The model is well established enough to have become a commercial service offered by commercial Internet companies.

The particular added value of SNS is that they are a low cost way to “identify the communities where your supporters and activists are already and join in the conversation.”  The aim is to “share your message with enthusiastic supporters and they in turn may choose to pass it to others with a similar interest in your organization or campaign.”  Two examples, “Support the Burma monks” and “Pink Chaddi campaign,” show how individuals as well as organisations can quickly generate enormous amounts of attention and engagement that, crucially, washes into other broadcast, online and print media, thus achieving an integrated multi-channel campaign with a fraction of the budget available to organisations, private, public or non-profit.

Where there are budgets and resources available these can also generate significant communication and campaign impact if, and only if, they are context aware. While the claim that President Obama won the 2008 election because of his online campaign can be questioned, it is hard to argue that the sophisticated and widespread online campaign didn’t make a critical contribution to his victory.

Riding a bike doesn’t equip a person to drive a car.

Communicating using social media, or social technology, requires an additional and different set of skills and attitudes than communicating via broadcast and print media.   However, the learning about how to operate within a road system, about how other people behave and how we ourselves react and deal with sudden incidents is infinitely transferable. Similarly, the basic principles of successful communication remain the same. Effective communicators are able to extend and integrate social media into their work so that they operate across the complete media mix. In the following paragraphs we draw on the summary principles we outlined in chapters two and three above.

Social Networks for social change communication

SNS are digital platforms in which people behave socially. They offer rich communication tools. They therefore present enormous opportunities for the implementation of communication strategies which “include a focus on seeing people and communities as agents of their own change, emphasise community empowerment, [seek to] create an environment of change and provide a voice for communities and opportunities for dialogue and debate rather than focusing on products and messages.”⁸⁸

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