Gaurav Mishra is the 2008-09 Yahoo! Fellow in International Values, Communications, Technology, and Global Internet at Georgetown University. As the Yahoo! Fellow, Gaurav is leading research on how social media is being used in BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China). Gaurav is also teaching a graduate course at Georgetown University on Social Media in Business, Development and Government.
Latest posts by Gaurav Mishra
Bloggers Remember TEDIndia: The Good, the Bad and the Quirky
When the legendary TED conference came down to India, Indian bloggers were understandably excited. Some of the bloggers participated in the event and Gaurav Mishra was one of them. In this post he compiles a roundup of bloggers reactions to the TEDIndia 2009 conference, which took place earlier this month in Mysore, India.
The Irony of Iran's ‘Twitter Revolution’
When the dust settles down on the Iran election crisis, we will see that Twitter was more useful as a media tool and not as an organizing tool.
Caste Based Communities on Orkut Mirror India's Splintered Society
I have written before about Shiv Sena's militant approach towards Orkut communities critical of the party, its leader Bal Thakeray, or its Hindutva ideology. Caste-based communities on Orkut are another disturbing example of online communities mirroring the splintered nature of Indian society.
The IndiBlogger.in State of the Indian Blogosphere 2009
IndiBlogger.in is a vibrant community of Indian blogs with some excellent features like a topic-wise directory with ranks (IndiRank) and a meme-tracker (IndiVine). I have put together the highlights of some interesting data from the 7895 blogs that the aggregator crawls in an "IndiBlogger.in State of the Indian Blogosphere Dashboard".
India Votes for No Change: Indian Bloggers & Twitter Users React to #IndiaVotes09 Results
The results for the month long Indian Lok Sabha elections are out and India has voted back the incumbent Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) into power with a decisive verdict, surprising many observers. The Congress supporters are jubilant, and the BJP die-hards are understandably glum, but most neutral Indian bloggers and Twitter users are happy with the verdict, for more reason than one.
Indian Elections 2009: Lower Voter Turnouts And Questions Regarding Campaigns
The Indian blogosphere and mainstream media is abuzz with debate on why the voter turnout in Mumbai has decreased to 44.21% in spite of voter registration initiatives like Jaago Re and transparency initiatives like Vote Report India.
India's First Digital Elections Evoke Strong Reactions Online
The world's biggest election is underway in India and, as India's 714 million voters cast their ballots in the month-long elections, they are witness to a range of digital initiatives from political parties, civil society organizations, media houses and even corporates. As a result, some observers are calling it India’s first digital elections. It's not surprising, then, that the Indian internet community is abuzz with discussions related to various aspects of the elections.
The Best Online Sources for News and Analysis on the 2009 Indian Lok Sabha Elections
As the campaigns for the 2009 Indian Lok Sabha elections heat up, several new websites are aiming to become the default source of news and analysis related the 2009 general elections.
Predictions and Polls for the 2009 Lok Sabha Elections in India
The month long general elections to the 15th Lok Sabha start from April 16, and there is wide speculation on which party, or coalition, will emerge the winner, when the results are announced on May 16th. Here is a quick roundup of the pre-election predictions and the discussion around them in the Indian blogosphere.
Indian Elections 2009: The Impact of Socially Conscious Corporate Campaigns
In my previous posts for the Global Voices special coverage on the 2009 Indian general elections, I have analyzed how Indian politicians and political parties are using internet and mobile tools for election campaigning and civil society groups in India are using digital tools to run voter registration and transparency campaigns. In this post, I'll analyze the impact of three election-related socially conscious ad campaigns: Jaago Re by Tata Tea, My Idea by Idea Cellular and Lead India/ Bleed India by The Times of India.
Digital Civil Society Campaigns in the 2009 Indian General Elections
In my first post for the Global Voices special coverage on the 2009 Indian general elections, I had analyzed how Indian politicians and political parties are using internet and mobile tools for election campaigning. In this post, I'll detail how civil society groups in India are using digital tools to run voter registration and transparency campaigns in the run up to the elections.
India's First Digital Elections
The world's largest democracy, India, goes to elections starting April 16, 2009. The month long general elections to the 15th Lok Sabha will be held in five phases on April 16, April 22, April 23, April 30, May 7 and May 13, and the results will be announced on May 16. In the first post of Global Voices special coverage on the Indian Elections 2009 we highlight the use of internet and mobile technologies in the election campaign.
Shiv Sena's Orkut Campaign: The Limits to Freedom of Expression in an Intolerant India
Introduction: Freedom of Expression in the Indian Blogosphere The Indian blogosphere is abuzz with discussions on freedom of expression after the Supreme Court refused to throw out Shiv Sena's defamation...
Bloggers in India Mourn the Untimely Death of Shakti Bhatt
Bloggers in India have been mourning the untimely death of Shakti Bhatt, who passed away in Delhi last Saturday night after a sudden and unexpected illness. Shakti – who was...