Social Media in Developing Countries: Giving remote communities a chance to be heard, but posing danger

With the arrival of the information era, personal desktop computers provided a platform for enhanced social interaction for many individuals in developed countries, but due to the cost and availability of these devices, remote and rural communities were left virtually unchanged and the silence of these individuals remained a sad and unsettling topic.  Now, with the booming of mobile devices in Africa according to researchers Kwaku Kyem and Kweku LeMaire, rural and remote communities in developing countries are finally given a voice, with unexpected and remarkably vast implications.  According to Azom Emmanuel and Muyingi Hippolyte, technological illiteracy and media accessibility remained challenging predicaments in rural communities where desktop applications, meant for the use of rural communities, were rendered ineffective due to the limited number of computers and the low literacy levels (Emmanuel & Hippolyte 16).  They do however state that mobile applications are freely available now in many rural communities and that it is not a constraint anymore.  Mobile phones provide easy access to information at any place and any time.  According to Kyem and LeMaire, these devices are now, due to what they call the “African Boom in mobile phone subscription”, utilized by rural communities and their participation in especially social media is increasing year by year adding to the speed in which these countries are developing with regards to social and cultural awareness.  But is this necessarily a “good thing”?

“ICT is changing the way many Africans live and work” (Kyem & LeMaire 13).  With the aid of mobile devices, communities in developing countries can increase their impact on the economy with enhanced financial transactions, increased visibility on the web, exposure to foreign, First World trends, improved education, and the expansion of democratic practices.  On the social front, the effects of mobile devices seem to be even more far-reaching.  Through social networking phenomena like Facebook and Twitter, mobile technology helps the isolated and seemingly forgotten individual in developing countries to create a sense of individuality and personal identity.  With the effective use of Twitter, for instance, political protest can be instigated with increased potency with political activists being enabled to reach unrelated people at only the click of a button.  The facilitation of personal romance and the strengthening of relationships corporately help to breach geographical gaps and help to endorse diversity within the communities of developing countries.  However, Kyem and LeMaire do state that we should be aware that “the conditions of life of people in particular societies did not change until the technology in question was adopted and used widely in productive ventures to alter the socio-economic condition” (13).  They thus imply that developed countries can still aid in the education of developing countries regarding the effective use of mobile devices, for the increase in subscriptions does not necessarily translate to an increase in the overall participation of the individual in social networking.

The downside to the participation of developing countries in the activities related to social media, is the fact that traditional values and beliefs are severely placed in jeopardy and that the sudden exposure to the philosophies of the First World can create an identity crisis within the individual.  Along with the identity crisis possibly experienced, is the increase in conflict between traditionalist thinking bodies within the community and the various foreign philosophies posed by the outside world.  In certain developing countries, conflict regarding cultural beliefs can become increasingly violent, resulting in malicious acts of prejudice, even murder.  Thus although, according to First World thinking, an increase in exposure to information and education, is a “good thing”, the speed at which developing countries are exposed to “new social media” should be monitored, but according to the nature and ideals of social media, this can not be done effectively.  Being in conflict with one’s cultural beliefs, while still residing within the geographical area in which those beliefs are practiced, can cause severe psychological damage and one must remain objective and open-minded when evaluating the advantages of exposure of communities in developing countries to a milieu so vastly differing from their own.  It might be a case of “too much, too soon”, which can have catastrophic consequences.