Wednesday, June 18th, 2008
Quick Summary: I was quoted yesterday in Indian newspaper DNA in a story on whether blogging in India is mature enough to act as a change agent.
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I was quoted copiously in Indian daily DNA in a story on whether blogging in India is mature enough to act as a change agent.
A good approach to answer this question is to compare social media usage in India with social media usage in China –
Social media usage in Metro India and Metro China is driven by very different consumer behavior. In Metro China, Creators, Critics and Joiners all play an important role, whereas in India, Joiners are the predominant drivers of social media usage.
Social media usage in India and China also have significant differences in terms of the topics that drive conversation. Richard Edelman has written an interesting introduction to the Chinese blogosphere –
Social media in China has two constant themes: the rich/poor divide and nationalism… The best Chinese bloggers are… incredibly impressive, committed to change, convinced that they were part of a new China where individual expression and frank speaking will win.
Filed in Desi Blogging, Flat or Not, Noteworthy, Press, Social Media
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Also tagged Activism, Authenticity, Blogging, Blogosphere, Blogs, Brands, Chinese Blogosphere, Daily News and Analysis, Indian Blogosphere, Interview, Newspaper, Reputation, Social Media
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Dear DNA,
One of your reporters, Anjali Thomas, repeatedly called me last week for a story on the dark side of blogging in the context of the attacks against Cathy Sierra and Tim O’Reilly’s blogger code of conduct.
I repeatedly told her that the story she was researching was marginal at best and she should instead do a story on how blogging lets people find their voice and become part of a community.
I repeatedly told her that most of the bloggers I know, including myself, have had mostly positive experiences with blogging and I have rarely seen offensive and/ or abusive comments on the blogs I read.
When she insisted that I tell her about some controversial episodes in the desi blogospehere, I asked her to speak to Saket, Gaurav, Sakshi and Rashmi instead and offered to do an interview if she decided to do an objective story on blogging.
After all that, imagine my shock when I saw myself misquoted in this manner in DNA yesterday -