# Development Cooperation Handbook/Communication and Knowledge Management/Communication through Media Social Network

Steps and Tools
In the fast moving world of today, Communication is moving from Newspaper or TV to Social Media Networks (also known as Facebook, Twitter, Mediapress, aggregator of news, blogs, etc.). As consequence of this, I believe that to better achieve the objective of spreading awareness in the public about Cooperation for Development, the Eugad project must incorporate in its Media Operators stakeholders (one of the 3 target groups of Eugad) the Operators of Social Media Networks.
These Social Media Tools are creating a new language of communication which is very different from the long written articles of the common media. It is a short and to the point approach which focuses on informing the reader but not taking much time out of the fast moving life we now tend to live. Moreover, all this information is always available on line, which enables any person from any corner of the world to read or view it wherever s/he likes and with no time scheduling required, as it used to happen for TV programs.
For this reason I think it is not only very important but also necessary for Eugad to insert in the Manual a specific chapter dedicated to the Communication through Social Media Network. In this chapter we can deepen the understanding of this new method of communication, try understanding what are the most used Social Networks, what are the reason for some netwroks to be chosen over others, what is their way of communicating, what is their impact in the present world, what impact is foreseen for the future, and much more.
It is important to note that Social Networks are a perfect example of a democratic approach which is applied through the esponential power of the web. It's a real communication from the bottom to the top, and we can see its effects! Have you looked at how much influence an action promoted through Social Networks can exercise on public sensitization? And mind that on newspapers and TV you only very seldom can find articles clearly expressing the power of Social Media Networks (maybe, from time to time, you can find articles on how Facebook helped in knowing about "a theft", "racial discrimination" and something else, but more commonly Social Networks, when appearing on Standard Media, are shown as entertainment Media, and nothing more).
I think it will be also very useful to link some blogs or Social Networks with the Eugad website, so that there might be a sharing of resources and more people get to know about various things, news, articles or events related to International Cooperation.
It is true that Eugad is already linked to Facebook and Twitter, but only this Social Network platform doesn't work enough in our case: what's the reason for that? What more should we do?
Comunicazione attraverso i Social Network - Versione italiana
Credo che oggi, in questo mondo che va sempre di fretta, la comunicazione di massa passi attraverso i cosiddetti Media Social Networks (Facebook, Twitter, Mediapress, siti aggregatori di notizie, blog vari, etc. - che solitamente fanno uso di messaggi brevi, e sempre reperibili on line), molto più che attraverso giornali o TV (che devono seguire una tempistica prefissata, e uno scheduling che spesso non si incastra con gli impegni delle persone).
Motivo per cui, se vogliamo divulgare una cultura a sostegno della Cooperazione allo Sviluppo, credo che tra gli operatori dei media (uno dei tre gruppi target del progetto Eugad), quelli da contattare in primis siano proprio gli Operatori dei Media Social Networks.
Inoltre, il linguaggio di questi Media è molto diverso da quello dei media standard, e per questo credo che all'interno del nostro Manuale ci sia proprio bisogno di un capitolo di approfondimento sull'argomento, finalizzato a definire non solo cosa sono i Media Social Network e quali sono le modalità di comunicazione da questi impiegati, ma anche ad identificare quali sono i Social Networks più efficaci e perchè, e quale possa essere il loro impatto mediatico, nel presente e nell'immediato futuro.
Siamo davvero consapevoli di questi aspetti?
Con i Social Networks si abbina l'approccio democratico alla potenza esponenziale del web, vero linguaggio dal basso verso l'alto: quanta influenza può esercitare un'azione di sensibilizzazione promossa attraverso un Media Social Network? Eppure di tutto questo ben poco si apprende da giornali o da reti televisive, molto più propensi a parlare di Social Networks, quando ne parlano!, solo nell'accezione di Mezzi di intrattenimento, magari utili per fare nuove amicizie, ma niente di più.