"Effect of Social Media on Society" talked about within the 7th National Media Conclave.

Bhubaneshwar: The Opportunities and Multiple Perspectives of Social Media, the aspects of Social Media Ethics, the Legal Aspects related to Social Media  were discussed threadbare in the Plenary Session(s) of the 7th National Media Conclave being organized by the Institute of Media Studies(IMS), Bhubaneshwar today.

Chairing the session, Dr. Nishamani Kar , Senior Consultant, Bhartiya Bhasha Samiti, Ministry of Education, Govt. of India, regretted that Social Media has caused a breakdown of 'Samvad' in society. He highlighted that aspect of mental health being affected by addictive usage of Social Media.

Prof. B.K.Ravi, Vice Chancellor of Koppal University (Karnataka)said that at one level, Social Media is creating a community of creative content creators, but at the same time, socialization and mental health aspects are being affected. He regretted that breakdown of family communication owing to the onslaught of social media.

Prof. Farhat Basir Khan, Centre for Media & Mass Communication Studies, Jamia Hamdard University, pointed out that the social media ecosystem has linkages with business models.  In the era of the attention economy, the positive side of Social Media is in the realm of digital learning & collaborative learning system, he added. However, he raised concerns about data security & privacy issues in Social Media.

Prof. Ravindra Kumar Vemula (EFL University, Shillong) highlighted healthy social media practices in North-East India regarding revival and preservation of scripts & languages of North East as well as promotion of traditional health practices of the region. He advocated responsible engagement of Social Media for constructive purposes.

Prof. Abhijit Roy (Dept. of Film Studies, Jadavpur University) quipped that in the times of Social Media, digital labour is the new norm. 24X7 digital media interface, home has become the new office, home is the new factory. He said that Social Media has made Democracy a performance stage. It is the age of Social Media performers, he said. The whole world is now vulnerable to Visibility, he added with concern.

Dr. Nishamani Kar recited a self composed poem lamenting the impact of social media, and advocating face to face communication.

Dr. Kitty Mukherjee, Assistant Dean, R.V. University, Bengaluru moderated the plenary session with flair. She said that despite its' risk factors, social media is a reality that society will have to deal with. However, she advocated judicious usage of Social Media.

In the second plenary session of the Media Conclave, Prof.  K.V. Nagraj talked about practices of cyber-bullying on digital media platforms. He said that individual privacy is a casualty in social media. However, he wondered whether the concept of individual privacy exists at all in India (?). Talking about freedom of expression on social media platforms, he posed a question as to whether it is freedom of subalterns, or freedom for the powerful elites (?)

Dr. Lokesh Sharma (Banasthali Vidyapeeth) said that there is no systematic set-up for monitoring Social Media in India. He said that Social Media has intruded upon all the dimensions of life. He raised concerns about the spread of unrestricted harmful content on Social Media.

Senior Advocate, Odisha High Court, Sourya Sundar Das threw light on the legal aspects of Digital Media regulations as well as the positive effect of digital interface in legal domain, especially the aspect of transparency. S.S. Das said that in the guise of digitalization, individual privacy should not be compromised.

Garima Sharma( Banasthali Vidyapeeth) moderated the second plenary session today.

The Chief Organizer of the National Media Conclave Prof. Upendra Padhi felicitated the Panelists on the occasion.

Eminent Media Academicians Prof. Biplab Loho Choudhury, Prof. V.L. Dharurkar, Prof. Onkar Kakade, Prof. Pradeep Malik, media scholars & faculty members, research scholars, media persons, media students, delegates from all over the country were present in the Media Conclave.

About 150 delegates presented research papers in the technical sessions of the Media Conclave. About 250 delegates are taking part in this mega academic event.

The 7th National Media Conclave will conclude on Nov.23