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Strengthening radio communities with digital media. Prof Christo Doherty Head of Digital Arts University of the Witwatersrand. Community building. New media/Digital media? Christian broadcasting in a good position to harness digital for community building.
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Strengthening radio communities with digital media Prof Christo Doherty Head of Digital Arts University of the Witwatersrand
Community building • New media/Digital media? • Christian broadcasting in a good position to harness digital for community building
This is because, regardless of whether we talk about cellphones, emails or websites, all digital communications media are about networks = communities
Tim Berners-Lee • “The dream behind the Web is of a common information space in which we communicate by sharing information.” • “The whole spread of the Web happened not because of a decision and a mandate from any authority, but because a whole bunch of people across the 'Net picked it up and brought up Web clients and servers, it actually happened.”
Lessons from a networked world • Unlike radio & TV which are systems set-up to make a profit, the Net has come into being in a more spontaneous way • Broadcasters who understand the centrality of connections and communities to the Net will find a way forward
Napster and the rise of Peer2Peer networks • Napster connected people to each other’s music, bypassing the distribution systems of the record companies • It’s not just about free content – it’s about escaping the control of gatekeepers – and people making their own connections to each other and content
Facebook etc connecting people to people • Once people are connecting to each other, the Net is born • Facebook etc stimulates the proliferation of networks • Web 2.0/Social Networks are the realisation of the Net as imagined by Tim Berners-Lee
The Net as the network of connections • The Net is about maintaining connections • Not about content (even UGC) but about staying connected • Connection is life
No medium has been entirely replaced by new medium, but the old media are transformed by the arrival of the new medium
Using digital media effectively • Enhance relationship with listeners through digital channels • Use networked digital media to build audience investment in your programming • Recognise that networked media are social media = feedback loop
In Africa: what digital media are available to the radio broadcaster? • Internet usage in Africa has grown faster than in any other region • Internet users in Africa are estimated to total 32.8 million, a rise of 625% since 2000
Internet penetration varies from country to country in Africa • But when we examine internet penetration in Africa on a country by country basis there are great differences. Malawi - 0.9% Seycelles - 37%
Know your telecoms context • At present Internet technology is concentrated in a handful of countries • Any strategy for using digital media must take into account the particular situation of the country or region in Africa that is being addressed
Mobile phone penetration • Mobile phone penetration in Africa is over 50%
Cell phones offer new medium • The increase in the use of cell phones across Africa has been phenomenal • In Africa, people use more than one cell phone and different networks to get complete coverage • SMS messaging is used as a new medium for communication and interactivity • Cell phones offer viral marketing opportunities to spread “word of mouth” messages faster than ever before
“Arguably SMS and the mobile phone hold the answer to Africa’s digital neglect, of bringing African civil society fully into the new world.” - DubussiTande, Cameroonian blogger and activist at the Highway Africa Conference, Rhodes University, 2009
Experiment to find channels which work for your station Low cost of digital media, invites experimentation to craft custom solutions for your building connections with your radio community
Thank you christo.doherty@wits.ac.za
