Social Media Workshop | Learning for Effective Use

Focuss.Info Bangladesh workshop on “Social Media and Social Bookmarking” it the extension of the Bangladesh Conference . Although the number of participants was limited (20x), Siraj Shahjahan reflected on the country’s new media reality improvement by improving technical skills and widening information sharing motivations among the participants. Along with social media and bookmarking, the workshop gave an overview on blogging, twittering (micro), and writing on the web.

Date: 29–30 July and 5 August 2011.

The Focuss.Info Bangladesh Workshop on “Social Media and Social Bookmarking” was organized as a practical extension of the Bangladesh Conference on “Improving Research Infrastructures with Social Media.” While participation was limited to just 20 participants, the workshop provided intensive hands-on training designed to strengthen technical skills and encourage more effective information sharing through digital media.

Facilitated by Shahjahan Siraj, the workshop reflected on Bangladesh’s rapidly evolving new media landscape and demonstrated how social media could be used for communication, collaboration, advocacy, and knowledge sharing. In addition to social media and social bookmarking, participants received practical introductions to blogging, microblogging (Twitter), web writing, and online content publishing.

Background

The Bangladesh Conference on “Improving Research Infrastructures with Social Media” was held on 24–25 February 2011 at BRAC, Dhaka, organized by Focuss.Info Bangladesh. The conference highlighted the growing importance of social media in research, education, and development.

Based on the conference discussions, it became clear that there was a strong demand for practical training—particularly for webmasters and communication professionals working with NGOs, universities, research institutes, media organizations, human rights groups, and civil society organizations. The workshop was therefore designed to provide practical, hands-on experience with the latest social media tools and online communication strategies.

Workshop Highlights

The three-day participatory workshop emphasized practical applications of digital communication tools and covered a wide range of platforms and technologies, including:

• Blogging platforms: Blogger, WordPress, TypePad
• Content Management Systems (CMS): WordPress, Joomla, Drupal
• Social networking: Facebook, LinkedIn, Orkut, Hi5
• Microblogging: Twitter, Tumblr, Yammer
• Photo sharing: Flickr, Picasa, Facebook Photos
• Video sharing: YouTube, Vimeo, Metacafe
• Knowledge sharing: Wikipedia
• Document and presentation sharing: Scribd, SlideShare
• Live streaming and online communication: Ustream, Skype, Blip.tv
• Social bookmarking: Delicious, Diigo, Google Reader, AddThis, Keep Your Links, StumbleUpon
• Social news aggregation: Digg, Reddit, Technorati

Participants also learned web writing techniques, online collaboration methods, digital networking strategies, and best practices for using social media effectively in professional and development contexts.

Special Guest Lectures

The workshop featured keynote sessions by distinguished communication scholars:

• Dr. Brian Shoesmith, who shared valuable insights from his experiences in Bangladesh and Australia, highlighting the evolving role of digital media in development communication.
• Dr. Jude Genilo, who delivered an engaging lecture on Community Informatics and Digital Inclusion, discussing how information and communication technologies can empower communities and promote inclusive development.

These expert sessions enriched the workshop by combining academic perspectives with practical experiences from the field.