Reflections from practical experiences of managing participatory media platforms for development

Abstract

The design of participatory media platforms can have many variations in terms of whether or not anonymous communication is allowed, what moderation policies are in use, the conversation model that is supported, etc. We use six case-studies of voice-based ICT4D participatory media platforms running in India to outline a typology of design axes that can be used to characterize these platforms. Such typologies can be useful for ICT4D practitioners to conceptualize suitable designs for their platforms in different contexts, and to reconfigure the platforms in case design changes are required. We also use this typology to discuss the design constraints and flexibilities allowed by Internet based social media platforms.