Proposer's Name: Mr. David NG
Proposer's Organization: NetMission.Asia [Asia Pacific | Civil Society]
Co-Proposer's Name: Mr. Hans Martens
Co-Proposer's Organization: European Schoolnet (EUN) [Europe | Civil Society]
Co-Organizers:
Mr. David NG, Civil Society, NetMission.Asia
Mr. Hans MARTENS, Civil Society, European Schoolnet
Session Format: Break-out Group Discussions - 90 Min
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Session Moderator: Ms. Jianne Soriano, NetMission.Asia (Asia Pacific)
Facilitators:
Mr. David Ng, eHelp Association (Asia Pacific)
Ms. Sabrina Vorbau, European Schoolnet (WEOG)
Mr. Michael J. Oghia, Steering Committee of YCIG (MENA)
Ms. Heiki Tsang, NetMission.Asia (Asia Pacific)
Mr. Guilherme Alves da Silva, Youth Observatory (LAC)
Rapporteur: Ms. Yannis Li, DotAsia Organisation
Remote Moderator: Mr. Sam Kong, DotAsia Organisation
Content of the Session:
The current data from “Digital in 2017 Global Overview” shows that among the 3.773 billion internet users, there are 73.91% who actively use social media. According to a study from Pew Research Center in 2015, American teens ages 13 to 17 with 76% of all teens already using social media platforms.
In July 2017, YIGF in Asia Pacific will organize a session with the theme “How does social media shape our minds?”. Youth from the Asia Pacific region will join the event to discuss how social media influence their daily lives and more importantly, how it shapes their online behaviour and mindset. Taking the discussion outcome from the Asia Pacific perspective forward, and hoping to gather the global opinion, the proposed workshop will address the following key issues regarding social media.
Break-out Groups:1) Methods of receiving information (Co-Facilitators & Rapporteur: David & Sabrina)
News feeds on social media accounts usually show the information with users’ preference automatically, which may lead to users being limited to a single source of information. Meanwhile, fake news is widely spread on the social media platform. The different ways of how users access information is worth discussing. Collaboration of different stakeholders is needed to improve the situation.
2) Communication pattern (Co-Facilitators & Rapporteur: Michael & Jianne)
On one hand, social media provides a channel for people to express themselves. On the other hand, cyberbullying and hate speech appear more frequently in cyberspace. There should be a balance to draw the line between freedom of speech and the responsibilities of netizens. How we draw the line is the concern.
3) New innovations on social media (Co-Facilitators & Rapporteur: Guilherme & Heiki)
Social media creates a new platform for people to start new initiatives for social good such as instant fact check during elections, forums and the live function to report emergencies. Best practices on new innovations should be shared for the community as reference.
The purpose of the session is not only to reflect the facts about the influence of social media mentioned above. It also provides a chance to raise suggestions to modify current policies of social media platforms and solutions to the discussed issues. Moreover, it aims to create a guide and tips on social media usage for youth and general internet users.
Agenda
8 mins - [Background introduction] Setting the scene by session moderator
40 mins - [Breakout group discussion] Facilitators will be assigned to each group to facilitate the discussion on the topic
15 mins - [Report session] Break-out group rapporteurs will present the summary of each group, and online moderator will also recap the discussion in the chat room
25 mins - [Open Mic / Roundtable discussion] Suggestions on solution to the issues as well as modification of current policies of social media platforms will be discussed
2 mins - [Wrap up] Follow-up items and key take aways of the workshop
Relevance of the Session:
According to the “Digital in 2017 Global Overview”, there is 2.789 billion active social media users in Jan 2017, a dramatic rise of 21 % compared to Jan 2016. The issues related to social media surely shape the digital world of our future.
The discourse is leaded by youth (NetMission Ambassadors) with reference to the discussion outcomes in Asia Pacific Youth IGF. It provides a channel not only to engage young people in the Internet Governance discussion, it also empowers our next generation to raise topics of their concern, which facilitates the development of upcoming digital policy discourse environment and better shape the future multistakeholder discussion method on online issues.
Tag 1: Youth Engagement
Tag 2: Social Media
Tag 3: Future Internet
Interventions:
Instead of having keynote speakers to share their point of view, the workshop aims to collect and encourage voices from all participants. All participants with experience of using social media are welcome to share their views and concerns. The workshop will be in 3 different breakout groups on the following topics: 1) Methods of receiving information; 2) Communication pattern; and 3) New innovations on social media. Facilitators will be assigned to each group to facilitate discussion and recap the main ideas raised within the group. The workshop aims to synthesize a best practices and tips guide on social media usage for youth and general internet users, and guide will be published online after the IGF.
Diversity:
In the format of breakout group discussion, onsite and remote participants regardless of gender, geography, stakeholder group, age, disabilities or policy perspectives can join the onsite group or online chat room to express their views freely. The purpose of choosing this format is hoping to collect the voice from various background on the issue.
Conducted a Workshop in IGF before?: Yes
Link to Report: https://www.intgovforum.org/cms/igf2016/index.php/proposal/view_public/84
