The rise of social networking sites in Nepal
Rajneesh Bhandari
April 20, 2009
It (Facebook) has made Nepali more connected to themselves and the outside world,´ said Sarad Pradhan, media consultant of Nepal Tourism Board and regular user of facebook. Pradhan started using facebook in 2007. Pradhan said, ´I am using facebook at least for eight hours a day.´
It is interesting to know that people who were skeptical about social networking sites are also joining facebook and one of them is Gunaraj Luitel, associate editor of Nagarik daily. ´I was aware about the benefit of this networking site, but remained skeptical to use it´, said Luitel, who started facebooking some months ago. Luitel has found that social networking sites users are increasing, he has noticed much people joining in 2008.
In 2008, Barack Obama used facebook as one of the tools for his election campaign. It was then Nepali media gave a good coverage about social networking sites.
Ministers Hishila Yami, Ganesh Shah and youth leader Gagan Thapa are using social networking sites to push forward their political agendas and seek feedback and solutions on the recent problems. Yami is learnt to have made a facebook profile to make Visit Nepal 2011 a success.
But one of the most popular facebook user and Minister of Finance Dr Baburam Bhattarai has close down his account to make his personal website more popular.
Hi5, Orkut, Tagged, Myspace are also popular among Nepali users. Moreover, social networking sites are also learnt to have been successful in connecting little known organizations to a larger audience. Nepal is virtually becoming a small global village.
Global experiences
Girish Pokhrel, editor of nepalipost, an online news portal based in America, says he has been habituated to facebooking. Pokhrel lives in Washington DC, but he is updating himself about his journalist friends living in Nepal. ´I got to meet my journalist friends from Nepal, since I opened the facebook account. I am able to know new faces in the Nepali Journalism sector. I don´t feel that I am far from Nepal,´ Pokhrel said.
The positive part of facebook is it connects people and makes people aware of their friends' mobility and other development and it helps in professional growth. Anyone can be globally connected to internet through pcs, mobiles or laptops from anywhere: office, college, and street or cyber café.
Shaurav Rijal, a Nepali student studying in America says that his facebooking time is increasing. Rijal said, ´I saw mostly American and other international students using facebook all time either inside the library, on public places, or even while traveling in the metros. Facebook has even become the medium to share things with my professors.´
Problems
There are reports that people have lost their job because of facebook. But no such incident has been reported in Nepal. ´Some people make negative and offensive comment while trying to outsmart and this might be a problem for those who cannot digest negative comments,´ said Pradhan.
I found people using fake address and face pictures. These fake users troubled me by commenting without valid ground. I then deleted all such (fake names) that I discovered,´ said Luitel. Another problem social networking sites create is that it consumes much time, sometimes users are unaware of it.
Rijal said that he even came across situations when he was carried away due to excessive use of facebook and had difficulties in finishing his assignments.
Future
Pradhan suggested that one should use facebook for enhancing ones communication skill, getting connected, being aware of what's happening outside their world. Pradhan said, ´It also helps me in my profession to find out solution that I alone cannot solve.´
Even in our professional life there are many friends, admirers and mentors. They could add value in our work. That's why I've been using it to develop myself, sometimes to promote my work. It's a wonderful opportunity to tell about you to the people,´said Luitel.
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