Shriram Venkatraman

Shriram Venkatraman

PhD scholar at the Dept. of Anthropology, University College London. Anthropologist/Statistician. Research Interests: Technologies in Workplace, Org Culture & Entrepreneurship. @venkatshriram

Location London, United Kingdom

Activity

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to André Martins Cardoso
    Meet the people: South India

    Thank you.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Chelsie Y
    Meet the people: South India

    They aren't exactly socially isolated...there are lots of jobs in the IT and non-IT sector to which they apply through newspaper ads, word of mouth ads and if they are in college, sometimes even campus recruitment. So, finding a job isn't really tough.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Martina Poiana
    The appearance of politics on south Indian social media

    Good observations Martina.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Jonathan Hill
    Introduction

    Well said..both of Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey's

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Linda Saalman
    Meet the people: South India

    Thank You, Linda/Alexandra.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Chelsie Y
    Meet the people: South India

    Thanks Chelsie...most Lower Socio Economic Class women in this area - specifically unmarried young women were not on Social Media...since the male members of their families kept them out in fear of romantic inter-caste relationships developing if they were on Social Media. Social Media was seen as a masculine platform by these men. They feared for their...

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Nuzhat Shahzadi
    Introduction

    Thanks, Nuzhat, yes...my study also focussed on women in lower socio-economic classes in India. You can read more about it here...http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ucl-press/browse-books/social-media-in-south-india

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Greta Furlan
    Is social media a conservative space?

    Thanks, Greta. Would you also include trolling in this...also, would you say trolling is also an expression caused due to misunderstanding?

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Mary Twiss
    Is social media a conservative space?

    Thanks, Mary. Were these posts visuals (like Caricatures) or just textual comments or a mix of both?

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to ana amaral
    Is social media a conservative space?

    Thanks, Ana. As you know social media sites are also becoming important news sources for people, given this shift, just curious...do you think people might change their views or would they refer to other sources before they end up trusting a news item appearing on social media?

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Rachael Simpson
    Is social media a conservative space?

    Thanks, Rachael. Would be great if you could give an illustration of the wonderful point you raised...how views are also shaped by the community/industry you belong to.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Talvacy de Freitas
    Is social media a conservative space?

    Thanks, Talvacy. You mention about students, so was wondering, if you think age plays a role in the kind of interaction? Also, looks like your hint about these interactions (even between students), is more functional? Would be interested in knowing your views on this.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Claire Procter
    Social media and gender - a global comparison

    Thanks, Claire.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Rachael Simpson
    Social media and gender - a global comparison

    Thanks Rachael. Both you and Claire, bring up an interesting point about seeing more motherhood posts than that of posts by men. What do you think might be a reason for this?

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Claire Procter
    Social media and gender - a global comparison

    Thanks Claire. What do you think might be a reason for more motherhood posts than those of fatherhood?

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Rukman Gamage
    The appearance of politics on south Indian social media

    Thanks Rukman. Is it the same case in the local politics too?

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Teresa Chilà
    The appearance of politics on south Indian social media

    Thanks Teresa. This is interesting. So, family connections and support do play a role in the local political support...was wondering, what happens to those friends of the family who might not necessarily support the candidate from the family? Are they normally silent or do they express their displeasure openly?

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Helen Blunden
    Social media and politics - a global comparison

    Thanks for sharing this unfortunate experience Helen. If you dont mind me asking...since you said you are all in for jokes and expressing views, I was wondering if your comments on Facebook were sarcastic/satirical or were they more of a serious/critical nature?

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Sonia Crivello
    The appearance of politics on south Indian social media

    Thanks Sonia. What other factors do you see influencing the political postings?

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Cédric Reichel
    The appearance of politics on south Indian social media

    Thanks Cédric. Nice to see your divisions based on Ukraine. So, does the second group express silence in fear of retribution?

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Helen Blunden
    The appearance of politics on south Indian social media

    Thanks Helen. The Global Comparison video might help answer this question.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Teresa Chilà
    The appearance of politics on south Indian social media

    Thanks Teresa. Time is an interesting factor. Would be interested in your observation of Time as an influencing factor. Also, what other factors do you see influencing the postings other than Time?

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to iram anwar
    The appearance of politics on south Indian social media

    Thanks Iram. What other factors do you see influencing the postings?

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Rachael Simpson
    Meet the people: South India

    Thanks Rachael. You bring up a fascinating point on 'me' doing it 'right' and judging others on their use. Sometimes, in this site, you would also see, that this doesnt stop with an individual and such expressions are a collectivistic ideal - a group norm - where the group thinks 'we' are doing this 'right' and often tend to judge 'others'.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Chelsea Vickers
    Meet the people: South India

    Thanks Chelsea. Divisions in this site occur by class, caste, gender, age etc. One can find more such divisions even within a country, if we start comparing rural vs. urban, North India vs. South India etc. However, there are a few commonalities in the use of social media, which are more or less determined by the socio-cultural factors.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Rachael Simpson
    Introduction

    Thanks Rachael. When I started the study in the S. Indian fieldsite, WhatsApp wasn't really popular, however, that changed in the middle of my study. WhatsApp became extremely popular and even took over functions from other media e.g. direct messaging (Facebook messenger), moved to WhatsApp (between friends who knew each other) and often times, WhatsApp...

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to tash d
    Should we focus on platform design or user content?

    Wonderful...thanks Tash.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Sergei Kirienko
    The impact on gender

    This is interesting Sergei. Thanks for sharing.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Kristin Page
    Social media and politics: key issues?

    You're welcome Susan.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to tash d
    Should we focus on platform design or user content?

    Hello Tash, can you please elaborate on Snapchat's original intent...would be helpful in discussions here.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Lucinda King
    Social media and gender - an illustration
  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to SAMUEL ANTWI
    Social media and politics - a global comparison
  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Kristin Page
    Social media and politics: key issues?
  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Cristina Amescua
    Meet the people: South India

    Thanks Cristina...these clips arise from a series of unstructured and semi structured interviews (also ensuring spontaneity) and care was taken to ensure that there was no bias in interviewees structuring opinions and suiting it to the researcher's needs. This is also one another aspect of the rigorous ethnography that we followed as a methodology.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Anastasiya Pirotskaya
    Meet the people: South India

    Many thanks for the question Anastasiya. A very valid question...

    Both your questions are answered in the first few chapters of our book - How the World Changed Social Media...

    https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ucl-press/browse-books/how-world-changed-social-media

    Hope this helps.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Rifka Mayers
    Should we focus on platform design or user content?

    Thanks Rifka. Good reminder to be careful.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Debra Buchholtz
    The appearance of politics on south Indian social media

    Thanks Debra and Monique. Most networks on Facebook are mixed and are heterogeneous compositions, while I completely agree about the strategic crafting of the network. We also have evidence of people maintaining multiple profiles just to ensure one network does not mix with another and of course, the kind of network you have also in a way determines what you...

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to [Learner left FutureLearn]
    The appearance of politics on south Indian social media

    Many Thanks for the questions Jonathan.

    1) Our 15 month Ethnography was carried out both offline and online...so, data of this kind is not collected in just one single instance, but rather through a series of observations and interactions with people both online and offline.

    2) Twitter for the lower socio-economic classes symbolized an association with...

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Monique Pharand
    Introduction to this week's fieldsites

    Thanks Monique/Janet...that's how fast economic and spatial transition in India happens, given that it's a developing economy.

    The impact on the local community has been significant...right from infrastructural development to economic development. Imagine the entire space transform from a small road with trees and fields on both sides to a six lane highway...

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Tamanna Ashfi
    The impact on gender

    Hello Tamanna... the statistics you quote of Linkedin is from 2011, the numbers have significantly changed since then...

    http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/11/11/social-media-update-2016/pi_2016-11-11_social-media-update_0-05/

    A significant change occurred between 2013 and 2014...

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Jeremy Watson
    The appearance of politics on south Indian social media

    Thanks Jeremy. Was just wondering about LinkedIn as a platform in itself - isn't it more of white collar workforce driven network?

    http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/11/11/social-media-update-2016/pi_2016-11-11_social-media-update_0-05/ - I understand that this is just the US alone - but still worth noting.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Monique Pharand
    The appearance of politics on south Indian social media

    Just wondering if Heather Finch's comment (the one just above this trail) on small town vs. large urban cities, might be a reason for Trump's election?

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Jeremy Watson
    Focusing on social media and politics

    Hello Catherine, in week 1 we had scalable sociality as our definition of social media
    https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/anthropology-social-media/5/steps/138589

    Also, one of the most influential (probably slightly dated) definitions of social media can be found here - http://www.danah.org/papers/JCMCIntro.pdf

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Alice Roberte
    Should we focus on platform design or user content?

    Thanks Alice. Good observation on e-commerce and Instagram.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Amy K
    Should we focus on platform design or user content?

    Thanks Amy. Good observation on Instagram. However, hasn't trolling taken over several other platforms as well? Do you see it as an unintended consequence in platforms such as Youtube/Twitter as well?

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Valerie Donschachner
    Should we focus on platform design or user content?

    Great examples - Stack Overflow and Youtube. Thanks Valerie.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Colum Fraser
    Should we focus on platform design or user content?

    Thanks Colum. Good observation!

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Silvia Almenara
    So, what have we learnt this week?

    Thanks Silvia. The chapters (and concepts) from the book have endnotes and references which would provide you with a comprehensive reference list.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Richard Welch
    So, what have we learnt this week?

    Thanks Richard. Glad to know this course was able to contribute to your reflections. I am sure you will enjoy the rest of this course as well.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Liane Faccio
    The impact on gender

    Thanks Liane. Good observation Andii. Thanks for sharing.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Gaynor Wingham
    The impact on gender

    Thanks Gaynor. Is this due to the names they choose or is this once again culture specific...since certain names in certain cultures are not gender specific?

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Alice Roberte
    Social media and gender - a global comparison

    Thanks Alice. I am sure you will enjoy the week on Latin America as well.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Crisvalter Medeiros
    Social media and gender - a global comparison

    Thanks Crisvalter. I am sure you will enjoy the week on Latin America as well.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Antigoni Koukkoulli
    Social media and gender - a global comparison

    Thanks Sónia. Glad that you were able to find similarities with the postings discussed in the video as well as with Antigoni's.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Antigoni Koukkoulli
    Social media and gender - a global comparison

    Hello Antigoni...glad that you were able to find similarities between postings from the Italian site and postings from your country. Would be nice to know the place you are referring to?

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Jim Bradshaw
    The appearance of politics on south Indian social media

    Thanks Jim/Andii. In this case, opposition was not direct and was expressed through sarcasm, concern and/or silence.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Erica Brown
    Focusing on social media and politics

    Thanks Erica. I think you touch upon a few interesting areas - paid news/fake news, consent generating news items, personal networks and social news, Algorithm generated content etc. all of which merge to provide the kind of news one witnesses on his/her news feed. Thanks for bringing this up.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Siddiqah Mohammed
    Meet the people: South India

    Thanks Maria. Glad that you were able to make a connection with Brazil. I am sure you will enjoy the week on Latin America.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Siddiqah Mohammed
    Meet the people: South India

    Thanks Siddiqah. The perspective of younger women about social media in a place like Panchagrami varied by the social class that they came from. While young unmarried women in several traditional families (mostly from lower socio-economic families) were more or less barred from using social media, young women from traditional middle class families were allowed...

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Maaike Noijons
    Meet the people: South India

    Thanks Maaike. Glad that you enjoyed the video.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Richard Welch
    Meet the people: South India

    Thanks Richard.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Gaynor Wingham
    Meet the people: South India

    Thanks Gaynor. More about how we did research can be found in this book https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ucl-press/browse-books/how-world-changed-social-media and our dissemination of research in the respective countries/field sites can be found here http://www.anthropology-news.org/index.php/2016/09/08/why-we-post/

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Richard Bradford
    Meet the people: South India

    Thanks Richard. Really glad that you could make a connection between this place and the scenario in other developing countries. I think you might enjoy the week on China and Latin America as well.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Rosalinde Spitters
    Meet the people: South India

    Thanks Rosalinde. Glad that you enjoyed it.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Magda A
    Meet the people: South India

    Well said Magda. Thanks

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Anisha Chandla
    Meet the people: South India

    Thanks Anisha. There were several, who used social media for work purposes. But what was interesting was that people used social media during 'working' hours for non-work purposes too. Most categorise social media and form their own opinions of the media they use. There were IT workers who clearly categorised LinkedIn as their only work related media while...

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Richard Bradford
    Introduction

    Jackie, I am not able to think of a very succinct term for what you ask. Will look into other disciplines like STS, Media Studies and get back to you if I find anything. Thanks.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Maria Angelaki
    Social media and gender - a global comparison

    Many thanks for sharing these examples Maria. Appreciate it.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Caroline Harper
    Should we focus on platform design or user content?

    Thanks Caroline/Margaret

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Silvia Almenara
    The appearance of politics on south Indian social media

    Thanks, Silvia. The methodology was primarily - ethnography (both online and offline). More about methodology can be found in chapter three of this book - How the World Changed Social Media - https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ucl-press/browse-books/how-world-changed-social-media

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Maria Angelaki
    Social media and gender - a global comparison

    Thanks, Maria. So, do you feel that people are strategic when they post things on social media? Would really appreciate if you can provide an example...something that you have come across or seen on your own social media profile?

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Anthea Fazi
    Social media and gender - a global comparison

    Thanks Anthea.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Caroline Harper
    Should we focus on platform design or user content?

    Thanks Caroline/Trevor, good point about ads. Was wondering if you also see (not paid for) ads from any of your friends who are also small time entrepreneurs trying to market their products through Facebook?

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Richard Bradford
    Introduction

    Thanks Richard. We agree that algorithms do play a role, however, the statement is in a different spirit, hope the later sections this week clarify the statement.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to G Vasqueros
    Social media and gender - a global comparison

    Thanks, Taylor. While you emphasise on freedom of choice, do you also think that the persona that people want to create online is also dependent on the restrictions that they face in the society? I ask this because we did witness cases where people had multiple (and fake) Facebook profiles, due to restrictions and surveillance of their postings. Also, would...

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Caroline Harper
    Social media and gender - a global comparison

    Thanks Caroline

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Anthea Fazi
    Introduction

    Thanks Anthea. Welcome to week three.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Brian Kirwan
    Introduction

    Thanks Brian. Welcome to week three

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Candy Wisdom
    Introduction

    Thanks Candy. Welcome to week three. Looking forward to the week as you are.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Mukta Chaitanya
    Meet the people: South India

    Well said Mukta. Thanks for sharing.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Jenny Kim
    Meet the people: South India

    Good observation. Facebook and other social media were perceived as social news media in several of our field sites.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Susan Vaughn
    Meet the people: South India

    Hi Susan. I don't know if I understood your observation. If you are referring to her name being a pseudonym...that's due to anthropological ethics of not not referring to the person by their actual names. You will find that even in our books. But, if you were referring to something else...can you please elaborate

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Mohit Marwah
    Meet the people: South India

    Thanks Mohit.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Bertha Calles
    Meet the people: South India

    A very good observation. One major reason was the class and caste issue, since we wanted to represent people across demographics. In the lower socio economic classes, women were restricted from accessing mobile phones and Internet (social media). Some did access using fake profiles and hence weren't really comfortable with video interviews. So you would find...

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Michael Nycyk
    Introduction

    In the South Indian field site, people above the age of 60 who were using social media were mostly the middle and upper class educated elderly. Most times it starts with use within the domestic circle of family and close friends. However, in the recent times it has become a lot more common to find people above 60 using social media. However, this is again...

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Martine Adriana
    Introduction

    Thanks Martine.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Fernanda Enríquez
    Meet the people: South India

    Yes Fernanda. This also concurs with one of our general findings: Communication is becoming more visual.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to amita malhotra
    Meet the people: South India

    Thanks Amita. Infact, later this week, we do discuss what creates social media: The platform or the user? Would be interested in knowing your thoughts, once you read through that section. Thanks

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Laura Abecasis
    Focusing on social media and politics

    Certainly agree Jenny. People do feel that what they see in their social media accounts, which are again made of social connections and a network that they have chosen in the first place, is the way that people see the world. However, as you have clearly pointed out, that is certainly not the case. Diversity of thought, sometimes gets masked by the network...

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Noel D
    The impact of social media on gender in southeast Turkey

    Hello Noel, we discuss gender in chapter 8 of the book: how the world changed social media- there is a discussion which aligns to your question. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ucl-press/browse-books/how-world-changed-social-media

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Angela Woodall
    The appearance of politics on south Indian social media

    Hello Angela, there are several papers out there which discuss demographics and social media/internet. However, an Anthropological perspective of these factors are provided in our comparative book 'How the world changed social media' - http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ucl-press/browse-books/how-world-changed-social-media (open access)

    Gender relations and Kinship in...

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Maryum Fiaz
    The appearance of politics on south Indian social media

    Thanks Maryum. Though, we did witness political postings being influenced by class and gender...would be very interested in knowing why you think its otherwise?

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Chris Foster
    Focusing on social media and politics

    This recent blog post by Danny Miller might be an interesting read and might add to this discussion- http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/global-social-media/2016/06/27/social-media-and-brexit/

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Steven Short
    Focusing on social media and politics

    Thanks Steven/Laura, I think this behaviour and the related perception to a large extent depends on the context.
    I can speak to this based on my fieldwork within a few companies, texting/emailing using phones while meeting with someone has a few layers of complexity to it. Power structure and context speaks a lot to this. If a Manager does this with his/her...

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Laura Abecasis
    Focusing on social media and politics

    Thanks Laura/Jenny. Social networks do determine how we see the world. You might be interested in reading Danny Miller's recent blog post about social media and Brexit http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/global-social-media/2016/06/27/social-media-and-brexit/

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Rebecca Collins
    Focusing on social media and politics

    Thanks Rebecca. This is certainly true...as politicians become personal brands in themselves, they hire professionals and social media managers to manage their brands online.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to ivy mang'eli
    Meet the people: South India

    Thanks Ivy. This week also discusses who determines what social media is/are - is it the user or the platform? We as a team think its the user. So striking a balance is with the user and this can be very relative since for a user, several factors influence his/her idea and use of social media.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Mônica Bulgari
    Meet the people: South India

    Hello Monica, I am sorry that you feel this way. I thought that this video does inform on who is who with their title/name cards...e.g. Ranjith - Call Centre Employee, Usha: Story Teller and Entrepreneur. Further, the intention was to provide just a glimpse at the complexity of fieldsite, where extremely differing opinion thrive. Please let us know why you...

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Laura Abecasis
    Meet the people: South India

    Thanks Laura. Was just interested and curious about the invitations...since this was something that was observed during fieldwork as well. Did the invitations originate from men or women? and was there a certain age group that this was happening with? Would be great to know your experience on this.

  • Shriram Venkatraman replied to Laura Abecasis
    Introduction to this week's fieldsites

    Yes Laura. We do discuss it. Further, we also have a comparative perspective of gender across several of our fieldsites as a video discussion later in the week. Section 3.13.