Social media & Development

Posts on development blogging & social media 

Social Media and Global Development Rituals: a content analysis of blogs and tweets on the 2010 MDG Summit

Forever Young: Kony 2012 and the quest for teenage belonging and community


5 questions for a post-Kony 2012 debate


Research on development blogging reloaded-new survey on audience and impact

Development evaluators, make blogging part of your workstyle!
 
Do we need an MA in Social Media for International Development & Change?
 
Twittering your MA? Development studies, social media and challenging dominant discourses
 
The globalisation of aid rituals-MDG summit and twittering about peace in Darfur

Popular posts from this blog

Should I transition from aid work to academia? Some don’ts & don’ts

In what seems like a digital lifetime ago I asked: Should I consider a PhD in International Development Studies? in 2011.

My central points are still valid and the post is one of my most successful in terms of readership and comments. The main audience for this post were a young(er) undergraduates or professionals who contemplate doing a PhD in international development as career advancement.
Fast forward to a 2017 piece in the Guardian about aid worker midlife crisis, discussions in forums such as 50 Shades of Aid or direct talks with aid workers and it seems that an update or extension of my original post could be a good idea to kick off the start of a new academic year.

The basic question is whether it is worth exploring PhD options as a mid-career, midlife aid worker with an intention to transition from the development industry into academia. tl:dr: Don’t do it!

Your aid work(er) experiences are pretty much meaningless for a PhD project
In my original post I wrote about ‘boring pro…
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Links & Contents I Liked 289

Hi all,

Summer is over, the new semester around the corner - and your favorite weekly link review is back on the Internet!
I am not even trying to catch up; I sprinkled in a few articles and reports that I have come across in the past few weeks, but other than that we are reading fresh stuff!

Development news: The RCT debate continues; Oxfam might inherit 41 million pounds! The US military-industrial complex in Niger; Canada has its first poverty reduction strategy! Blockchain won't fix Kenya(n elections); the UN is looking at internship programs: Lithuanian celebrities in Ethiopia; what would inclusive photography really look like? EveryDay Mumbai changing perceptions; many NGO workers don't speak local language; RIP Samir Amin; how to write an aidworker autobiography; 'Dear White consultant'-a poem from Tonga.

Our digital lives: The 'facebook & right-wing violence in Germany' research revisited; unethical female journalists in the movies; Yoga & white wo…
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Should I consider a PhD in International Development Studies?

After the Economist’s piece on the (non-)value of doing a PhD and some comments later (e.g. Prometheus doesn't read the Economist (I like the slightly cynical dichotomy between ‘civilians’ and the ‘academic insiders) or the '100 Reasons NOT to Go to Graduate School' (they are only halfway through so check it out regularly in the future...) I had an interesting conversation with a prospective PhD student a few days ago.
This was not the first time that I had been approached about doing a PhD and I always try to be as frank as possible, even playing the ‘devil’s advocate’ when it comes to the complicated ‘should I or shouldn’t I?’ decision-making process. At the end of our conversation I sat down and tried to summarize a few important and generic points from the point of view of doing a PhD in Development Studies and in the UK.
I understand that every case is different and involves a range of motives, options and rationales, but there a few important questions and topics t…
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Links & Contents I Liked 290

Hi all,

Welcome back to another Friday link review!

Development news: Things are getting better-but poverty is complex; UK Aid in a post-Brexit world; Kenya's start-up scene so white! More money for Kibera; Uganda's 'Ghetto President' is a lesson for digital activism; responding to Kerala's floods; development research & epistemic justice; #MeToo & transitional justice; police militarization.

Our digital lives: 'The Winners take all'-philanthrocapitalism revisited; political trolling made in the Philippines.

Publications: Sweden's official feminist foreign policy handbook; humanitarian emergencies & adolescents.

Enjoy!

New from aidnography
Should I transition from aid work to academia? Some don’ts & don’ts
The basic question is whether it is worth exploring PhD options as a mid-career, midlife aid worker with an intention to transition from the development industry into academia. tl:dr: Don’t do it!

Development news
12 Things We Can Agree On a…
Read more

Links & Contents I Liked 292

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Hi all,

Development news: Thailand's slave fishermen; UNEP boss' problematic travel arrangements; UNSG talks about a complicated world; long-term benefits of cash transfers-it's complicated; redefining aid in the 21st century; revisiting the depoliticizing women's empowerment debate; new UNHCR aid worker podcast; long-read on voluntourism-also complicated; Nkruma's legacy in Ghana; the rise of the inequality industry; plus: more #globaldev podcasts, tweets, videos!

Publications: Mapping the landscape of foundation support for #globaldev news; cash transfers can have positive impacts on intimate partner violence.

Academia: A peer review special: Reviewing trends, radical reforms & a scathing critique of the academic publishing-industrial complex; plus: Ethnography at African borders.

Enjoy!

Development news


Thailand's slave fishermen: What's needed to solve the crisis?
Chairat, Patima and the TMFG team have developed a system whereby slave workers can make ca…
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