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Love it or hate it, social media is now part of
our world. It's not a purely western phenomenon, nor something
restricted to “developed” economies. Not only is it prevalent in
the so-called BRICS economies, or even the so-called “Next Eleven”,
but it is increasingly a meaningful part of life in pretty much every
country where it is available – and it’s available in more than
you might think. We might look at how much our computers cost, in the
Global Economic North, and the price of iPhones and their most direct
competitors, and boggle at the idea that people in poorer countries
have access, but remember that far more inexpensive phones exist.
Companies want to make money from every population they can, and if
that means finding a way to make it affordable to additional
populations, that is what will happen. Also, it is worth remembering
that every country, no matter how much poorer it may seem, has a
wealthy elite. In fact, the biggest barrier to social media adoption
in some parts of the world is not wealth, but literacy.
