The second annual Afghan Social Media Summit - ASMS2014 - took place Oct 19-21st, 2014 in Kabul, Afghanistan. See the full conference report here. Want to learn more? Check us out on social media: facebook.com/afghansocialmediasummit twitter.com/afgsocialmedia youtube.com/user/afgsocialmedia

1. 1
#ASMS2014
CONFERENCE REPORT

2. Note from the
Organizers
ASMS 2014
in Numbers
Key Takeaways:
Trends
Expert Tips
Social Media in Afghanistan:
Facts and Figures
Coverage
What’s next
AcknowledgmentAgenda and
Overview

3. 111
The Afghan ICT sector has brought in revenues of
$1.3 billion to the Afghan economy, making it equivalent
to the 4th largest donor agency in terms of revenues
generated, right after USAID and the World Bank.
All facts and figures provided by Deputy Minister Aimal Marjan (MCIT)
= 66%
of all users
use Facebook
17%
Facebook users
are female
83%
Facebook users
are male
DID YOU
KNOW
= 3.7%
Afghans
use internet
million

4. How do you build a movement?
This is a question often asked on and of social media – and this is also the
question that we, the organizers of #ASMS2014, asked ourselves as we
prepared for the second annual Afghan Social Media Summit.
As Afghanistan’s premiere event on technology, innovation, and social
media, #ASMS2014 had a challenging mandate: to follow and improve
upon the first-ever Afghan National Social Media Summit, Paiwand, held
in September 2013.
Held on Oct 19-21, 2014, #ASMS2014 brought together over 700 people
from 22 provinces and 8 countries, including 43 speakers who video-con-
ferenced or, in two cases, flew in to Kabul to discuss some of the most
interesting and cutting edge issues in social media.
Different Twitter users
chimed into the conversation,
live-tweeted on our official #
Unique users interacted with the
Afghan Social Media Summit
social media page on Facebook.
Minutes of the live
video feed was
watched
times on Youtube.

5. #ASMS2014 Team
But the real stars of the summits were not the speakers. Rather, they
were the participants: the Afghan social media users that made their
voices heard both at the event, as well as by participating through online
channels. Over 962 different Twitter users chimed into the conversation,
live-tweeted on our official hashtag, 2030 unique users interacted with
the Afghan Social Media Summit page on Facebook, and users watched
3,858 minutes of the live video feed 689 times on Youtube.
Participants contributed to discussions ranging from the hottest topics
regarding social media in Afghanistan, such as its role in the Afghan
elections, to topics that were new for almost all attendees, such as “the
Internet of Things”, the Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong, as well as
specific platforms such as Crowdmapping.
So how do you build a movement? Well, it depends on what kind of
movement you want to build.
And for the summit organizing team, our movement of choice was an
empowered Afghan Internet public that effectively leverages social media
for a better Afghanistan.
We believe that the best way to build it is to give citizens the tools and
skills to speak up, connect, and act for the public good of Afghanistan.
33

6. 22
700
11
SPEAKERS
IN ATTENDANCE
OVER 3 DAYS
provinces
REPRESENTED
AFGHANISTAN, CANADA, EGYPT
INDIA, IRAN, PAKISTAN, SWEDEN, USA
VIDEO
CONFERENCES
43
8COUNTRIES
SENT SPEAKERS:

7. 5
18
2
FEMALE
PARTICIPANTS
INTERNATIONAL
SPEAKERS
FLEW INTO KABUL
TWEETS ABOUT
ASMS 2014 from
962 UNIQUE
TWITTER USERS
SESSIONS
974
FACEBOOK
INTERACTION
FACEBOOK
IMPRESSIONS
2.3K 211.6

9. 77

10. DAY Sunday Oct 19
8:00 AM
Registration
Coffee and tea was served.
9:00 AM
Welcoming Remarks
The welcoming remarks, delivered by the announcers and
by Ministry officials as well as organizers, explained the
objectives of the summit and set the agenda for the next
three days.
10:00 AM
How Technology is Changing Afghanistan (Short Talks)
Social media and technology have had profound effects
on Afghanistan and Afghan culture. In this series of short
talks, our speakers provided their perspective.
Topics and Speakers:
1. Shahrazad Akbar, Building National Identity Through Social Media
2. Abdul Kabir Ebrahimi, E-Tazkeera - Foundation For E-governance
3. Mujib Mashal, How Social Media Challenges A Conservative Culture
4. Soraya Afzali, Presenting a New Face of Afghanistan - the “Humans of
Kabul” project
11:00 Tea Break
11:30 AM
#Hashtag Activism (Panel Discussion)
The rise and proliferation of social media has led to a new
type of organizing and activism. But is “hashtag activism”
actually effective?
Topics and Speakers
Moderator: Ruchi Kumar
Panelist 1: Timor Sharan, #BadakshanNeedsYou
Panelist 2: Eileen Guo, The #UmbrellaMovement: Occupy Central in
Hong Kong

11. 9
All of us in this room here can and
are shaping what the Internet and
what social media in Afghanistan will
be just by the simple act of using our
phone and logging on to the internet.
So what will you do with that power?
Eileen Guo
Event Director

12. Sunday Oct 19
12:30 PM Lunch
1:30 PM
Break-Out Sessions
Break-out sessions were designed to be small group sessions that
allowed participants to go deeper into a particular topic.
#Hamgam Fellowships Presen-
tations on Digital Storytelling
Main Hall
Selected fellows from the
#Hamgam conference gave their
presentations on digital storytelling.
Hosted by Counterpart Interna-
tional
Storytelling Using Mobile Tools
Room A
Pulitzer-prize winning Photojournalist
Massoud Houssani taught participants
the basics of visual storytelling using
just a basic phone camera.
Presented by: Massoud Houssani
Open Data
Room B
This workshop/discussion
introduced the concept of “open
data” and taught participants how
to use it.
Presented by: Nate Smith, Devel-
opment Seed
Workshop: Build Your Own Wireless
Network
Room C
In this advanced workshop,
recommended for engineers and
hardware developers only, former
Google Engineer Matt Stephenson
worked with participants to build
their own wireless network for use in
remote areas.
Presented by: Matt Stephenson
101: Deep Dive on Hashtags
Room D
In this session, Tech Specialist Omid
Haqbin taught social media users
everything they needed to know
about effectively using hashtags.
Presented by: Omid Haqbin
Dari only
Social Media 101: Facebook
Workshop
Room E
This session went over both the basics
as well as more advanced features of
Facebook.
Presented by: Ruchi Kumar
English
DAY

13. 11
2:30 PM Tea Break
3:00 PM
Technology and Innovation
Social Media is just one form of technology that is changing
the world. This session introduced other technologies and
innovations.
Topics and Speakers:
1. The #Internet and Entrepreneurship, Elmyra Bayrasli (Video-conference)
2. Technology that Bridges the Digital Divide, Matt Stephenson
3. The Internet of Things, Romain Lacombe (Video-conference)
4. Wikipedia and Open Source: An Introduction, Mokhsh Juneja (Video-
Conference)
3:00 PM Closing Remarks
With the help of ICT, I am sure that
after 5 years we will be like some
other country whose 99% tasks
are carried out by internet.
Aimal Marjan
Deputy Minister of
Communications
and Information
Technology

14. Monday Oct 20
8:00 AM
Registration
Coffee and tea was served.
9:00 AM Welcoming Remarks
9:15 AM
Panel Discussion: #AfghanElections, What Social Media Tells
You About the 2014 Presidential Elections
Social media has played a greater role in this year’s presidential
elections than ever before. If we looked at the #AfghanElec-
tions from a social media and technology-based perspective,
what would it tell us?
Moderator: Lotfullah Najafizada, Head of TOLO News
1. Ahmad Shuja, Co-founder, Impassion Afghanistan
2. Nate Smith, Development Seed
3. Javid Faisal, Representative of Abdullah Abdullah campaign
4. Hamdullah Muhib, Representative of Ashraf Ghani campaign
10:15 AM
Civic Technology
Introduced by Omid Haqbin
1. Alicia Llewellyn: Civic Hacking (Video-conference)
2. Noor: Crowdmapping for Social Good
11:15 AM Tea Break
11:30 AM Panel Discussion: Privacy, Rights, and Cyber-Security
Moderator: Eileen Guo
1. Zmarialai Wafa, Director of Information Systems Security at Ministry of
Communications and Information Technology
2. Javid Hamdard, ICT expert
3. Amir Sadeghpour, Iranian Activist, Technologist, and Entrepreneur
(Video-conference)
DAY

15. 13
Social media is contributing to
a discussion nationwide that is
contributing to nation-building.
Lotfullah
Najafizada
Head of TOLONews
#ChicagoGirl: The Social Network
Takes on a Dictator
From her bedroom in the Chicago
suburbs, an American girl uses social
media to run the revolution in Syria.
Armed with Facebook, Twitter,
Skype and cameraphones, she helps
her network in Damascus and Homs
who brave snipers and shelling in
the streets and show the world the
human rights atrocities of one of
the most brutal dictators. But as the
revolution rages on, everyone in
the network must decide the most
effective way to fight a dictator:
social media or AK-47s. Only
available in English.
Main Hall
Life In a Day
Q&A with Massoud Houssaini,
who appears in the film as the
Afghan submission, will follow.
Life in a Day is a crowdsourced
drama/documentary film
comprising of an arranged series of
video clips selected from 80,000
clips submitted to Youtube. It’s
meant to tell the story of a life on
earth. English-language, but easy to
understand.
Recommended for participants
with lower levels of English.
Room B
3:30 PM Closing Remarks

16. Tuesday Oct 21
8:00 AM
Registration
Coffee and tea was served.
9:00 AM
Welcoming Remarks
Welcoming remarks were delivered by ASMS Event Director
Eileen Guo summarising the earlier two days of the summit. She
also set the agenda for the final day as well as milestones for the
beyond the summit.
9:15 AM
Panel Discussion: The Changing Face of News
This session discussed the ways that news and journalism in
Afghanistan is changing in the age of digital and mobile.
Moderator: Lisa Shepard, Former Managing Editor of Paiwandgah and For-
mer NPR Ombudsman
Mohammad Sufyan Head of Communications and Marketing at Pajhwok: Are
Mobile Apps the Future of News?
Javid Faisal: Mobile Peace Reporting
Ruchi Kumar: The Listicle as News Story
Aziz Koshan: SadRoz.af
10:15 AM
Break-Out Sessions A
Break-out sessions were designed to be small group sessions that
allowed participants to go deeper into a particular topic.
Online Advocacy for Women’s
Rights: Presentations
Main Hall
The first of a two-part session,
Online Advocacy for Women’s
Rights featured presentations of
global campaigns for women’s rights,
followed in Part 2 by small group
discussions on how to use social media
for women’s rights in Afghanistan.
Moderator: Shahrazad Akbar
1. Eileen Guo: Empowering Youth
2. Monica Ibrahimi: HarassMap Egypt
3. Mukhtar Pidram: “Woman in the
Street”
Social Media 101:
Twitter Workshop
Room A
This session covered both basic and
advanced Twitter use.
Omid Haqbin
Social Media 101:
Blogging Workshop
Room B
Qasem Behnud, of Afghan Culture
House, taught the basics of web
blogs.
Qasem Behnud
Dari only
DAY

17. The presidential candidates
and those who use social
media for the elections should
use it to educate people on
how to vote.
Ahmad Shuja,
Co-Creator of
Paiwandgah
Voter education is very important.

18. DAY Tuesday Oct 21
Workshop on Encrypted
Communications
Room D
Noted cryptographer and
entrepreneur Chris Allen
lead a small group discussion
and workshop that went
more in depth into encrypted
communications.
Chris Allen
Journalism Ethics in a Digital
World
Room E
How has journalism changed in a
digital world? How do you remain
ethical as a journalist?
Lisa Shepard
11:15 AM Tea Break
11:30 AM
Break-Out Sessions B
Break-out sessions were designed to be small group sessions
that allowed participants to go deeper into a particular topic.
Online Advocacy for Women’s
Rights: Discussion
Moderator: Shahrazad Akbar
Main Hall
1. Eileen Guo:
#Everyday Sexism
2. Noora FlinkMan:
HarassMap Egypt
3. Mukhtar Pidram:
“Woman in the Street”
Workshop: Building a CrowdMap
Room A
CrowdMap is a simple map-
making tool that allows you
to create collaborative map
alternatives to Google.
Noor Ahmad

19. The way people read news on
social media… and the way
people interact with each other
and exchange information is
changing.
In-Depth Discussion of Online Privacy
Room C
This session was meant to be a follow-up to the panel discussion on privacy, rights, and security,
and went into some of the deeper issues relating to Internet security.
Jillian York
Online User Behavior Research: Ethics and Implications,
Omid Haqbin
Cyber-bullying
Daud Hamidi
Social Media 101: Instagram Workshop
This interactive workshop elaborated on using Instagram for visual story-telling.
Ruchi Kumar
Room D
12:30 PM Lunch
1:30 PM
Break-Out Sessions C: Small group discussions on next steps
In this session, conference participants were divided into small groups to discuss
how to build on the momentum of the conference and continue to support the
growth of social media in Afghanistan.
2:30 PM Final Speeches and Closing Ceremony
Ruchi Kumar
Managing Editor of
Paiwandgah

21. 19#ASMS2014, Conference Report
“For security and access reasons, we can’t
go everywhere in Afghanistan, but social
media can” Shaharazad Akbar
Civil Society Leader

22. Throughout #ASMS2014, a number of common themes emerged. These included the
following:
1. Social Media as a Mirror to Afghan Society
Affecting and Effecting Afghan Culture
Social media is still relatively new in Afghanistan, but it has already been adapted in ways
that makes it unique from other parts of the world.
The content allowed on social media and the Internet, for example, is shaped by the laws
of an Islamic republic. As Director of Security Zmarialai Wafa explained, four topics are
censored in Afghanistan: pornography, the sale of alcohol, dating websites, and websites that
teach the making of elicit material, such as bombs.
In addition to different laws governing its content, Afghan social media is also used
differently. Despite the ban on Internet dating, renowned Afghan journalist Mujib Mashal
discussed how new ways of communication have opened up new channels of dating,
traditionally taboo in Afghan society.
Civil Society Leader Shaharazad Akbar, meanwhile, discussed how social media in
Afghanistan can be used to build unity between Afghans. She explained, “For security and
access reasons, we can’t go everywhere in Afghanistan, but social media can, so it can help
us build a national identity and learn about each other.”
2. Universal, Yet Local
Similarities in How Social Media is Used in Afghanistan and Around the World
Developments in Afghan social media do not exist in a vacuum, however; rather, they are
deeply affected by social media use around the world. In fact, a key objective of ASMS2014
was to encourage Afghan citizens to learn from the lessons from around the world.
To that end, this year’s social media summit featured speakers from 8 countries and case
studies from numerous more.
Monica Ibrahimi of HarassMap Egypt spoke to Afghan activists on how to use the internet
to fight for women’s right; Moksh Juneja of Wikimedia India encouraged Afghans to set up
a Pashto-version Wikipedia page; Amir Sadeghpour, an Iranian blogger who was jailed for
his activities, shared tips for Afghans to take advantage of Afghanistan’s comparatively free
Internet; and Ala’a, the protagonist of the documentary #ChicagoGirl, inspired Afghan
citizen journalists with her story of using Facebook to help organize the Syrian revolution.
3. Bridging the Digital Divide
When limitations spark innovation Afghanistan is rapidly modernizing through new technologies,
and has made huge strides in the telecommunications sector since 2001. However, as Eileen
Guo, Aimal Marjan, Javid Hamdard, and others have all noted, it is still in its infancy.
MCIT has ambitious plans for expanding Internet access, but in the meantime, the Afghan
private sector, civil society, donor community, as well as enterprising individuals are finding
innovative ways of bringing online content offline, and vice versa.

23. 21
For security and access reasons, we
can’t go everywhere in Afghanistan,
but social media can, so it can help
us build a national identity and
learn about each other.
Shaharazad
Akbar
Civil Society Leader

24. The power of mobile should not be underestimated. Event Director Eileen Guo spoke of
the “invisible” social network that allows Afghans to share popular content through the
SMS and Bluetooth features on their basic phones. Mohammad Sufyan, of Pajhwok Afghan
News, discussed his news agency’s plans to provide a more mobile news experience, with
SMS alerts as well as a new mobile app. Javid Faisal, who managed a mobile peace reporting
project in Kandahar, discussed the power of mobile in connecting citizens as sources of news.
Meanwhile, American Engineer Matt Stephenson taught a group of #ASMS2014 participants
how to build their own mesh wireless networks to connect rural areas without Internet
access, and fellow speaker Noor Mohammad Noor pointed out that such projects have
already been implemented with much success in Nangarhar.
4. A Double-Edged Sword
The Good and Bad of Social Media
In the early days of social media in Afghanistan, there was a heady sense of excitement
about its potential. While that optimism is still abundant, there is also a growing realization
that social media is not all good.
A number of speakers and participants, including ICT Expert Javid Hamdard, Citizen
Journalist Daud Hamidi, and Social Media Specialist Omid Haqbin all discussed the issues
of harassment, cyber-bullying, the spread of misinformation, and negative and sometimes
dangerous social media campaigns.
Meanwhile, Afghan Journalist Mujib Mashal brought up another issue: how technology is
creating both new opportunities for romantic relationships – as well as the accompanying
new opportunities for heartbreak.
But as Deputy Minister Aimal Marjan wisely pointed out, the negative aspects of Afghan social
media are part of the process: “When someone gets the opportunity for the first time, he/she
tries to exercise it and enjoy it. With the passage of time they get better at it. Now as the social
media is new in Afghanistan, we try to exercise it, we will naturally get better when time passes.”
5. The Power of Citizen Journalism
The Increasing Power of Citizen Voices
Throughout the event, speakers discussed the power of the “crowd”. From Event Director
Eileen Guo’s opening remarks on the true power of the Internet belonging to its users,
the introduction of the mobile-based citizen peace reporting project in Kandahar, to the
meeting of Paiwandgah’s citizen journalists, speakers recognized the growing importance of
citizen storytellers.
This lesson was further driven home by the first-in-Afghanistan screening of the award-
winning documentary, #ChicagoGirl, about how one young woman used Facebook to help
organize the Syrian revolution – all from her bedroom in Chicago.
As one summit attendee that watched the film remarked, “If she can do that in Syria, what
can’t we do in Afghanistan? Our history is even longer and more oppressed in Afghanistan
than in Syria.”

25. 23
....social media is new in
Afghanistan, so we will naturally get
better when time passes
Aimal Marjan
Deputy Minister of
Communications and
Information
Technology

26. 6. A Move Towards E-Government?
Social Media Bridges Gap Between Government and People
Social media and mobile technology used as a tool of civic engagement is increasing in
Afghanistan. Examples include grassroots government accountability projects like SadRoz,
which tracks progress on President Ashraf Ghani’s campaign promises during his first 100 days
in office, to governmental offices using social media to communicate directly with citizens, to
the rise of various “civic technology” projects.
And as Deputy Minister Aimal Marjan, of the Ministry of Communications and Information
Technology (MCIT) noted, the presidential palace is currently developing an SMS and Integrated
Voice Response (IVR)-based system for Afghan citizens to contact President Ghani directly. But
in the meantime, he told participants, anyone was free to call President Ghani directly!
7. Privacy and Safety on the Afghan Internet
Online Security is Key – But Confusing – to Most Afghans
In the panel discussion, Privacy, Rights, and Cyber-security, Zmarialai Wafa of the Ministry of
Communications and Technology (MCIT) asked participants how they would like the MCIT to
better serve Afghan social media users, and the response was overwhelming.
This session, even more than others, revealed how concerned the average Afghan social
media user is with Internet privacy and security but interestingly, ASMS2014 participants were
more worried about security than they were about their rights as Internet users.
This issue was not confined just to this panel discussion. Web Developer and Technologist
Omid Haqbin provided some practical tips on Internet safety and security during one
workshop; ASMS2013 attendee Daud Hamidi led a breakout session on the issue of cyber-
bullying; and participants in the small group discussions on “Online Advocacy for Women’s
Rights” discussed the issue of online harassment, and how women, in particular, could keep
themselves safe.
8. Social Media Users Are Early Adopters
As Internet Usage in Afghanistan Grows, Social Media Users Remain Most Tech-Savvy
The telecommunications sector has grown exponentially in the past fifteen years, with over 20
million mobile subscribers, 2 million Internet subscribers, and 1.3 million social media users.
Today, it is common for Afghans to have more than one phone, and the use of smartphones is
also on the rise.
But even amidst that growth, Afghanistan’s active social media users still tend to be the “early
adopters” of technology. Early adopters start using products or technologies as soon as they
become available, rather than waiting for them to be perfected. Early adopters tend to be
young, relatively educated, influential in their own family or social circles, and also use more
social networks than average users, as well as use social media more frequently.
The proof of this was when speaker Mohammad Sufyan, communications manager of Pajhwok
Afghan News, asked how many people in the room had smartphones, and 80% raised their
hands. This compares to an approximately 3% smartphone adoption rate among Afghans overall.

27. 25

28. 9. The Bigger Picture
Social Media as Part of a Larger Technology Ecosystem
Not all of the talks focused exclusively on social media. Romain Lacombe spoke about the
rising Internet of Things, Elmira Bayrasli discussed Internet entrepreneurship, and Nate
Smith focused on the power of data.
The central theme of these talks was that social media does not exist in a vacuum. Rather, as
ICT expert Javid Hamdard spoke to, social media represents the third stage of development
of the information and communications technology sector. The first stage was developing
the infrastructure, including mobile phones and cell phone towers, followed by service
provision of the Internet, and finally, the production of content that is shared online.
Other speakers emphasized the importance of “content” as well. Soraya Afzali, one of
the founders of Humans of Kabul, shared an example of how one type of visual content –
photo portraits – portrayed another face of Kabul. Javid Hamdard, meanwhile, reminded
participants how the current content shared by Afghans online would shape how
government would regulate and even censor content in the future.
But perhaps the pervasive impact of technology on every aspect of life in Afghanistan was best
described than by Deputy Minister of Communications and Information Technology Aimal Marjan:
“I may use internet for research; I may earn online money; my economy is related with internet; I
have relations with people through internet; and my social life is connected to internet.”
10. Ultimately, It’s About the People
Social Media is Only as Powerful as the People That Use It
“People start revolutions, technologies give them voice.” Elmira Bayrasli
At the end of the day, the real power of social media is in amplifying the voices of its users. By
itself it has no power; whether it is used as a force for good or evil depends entirely on the
people that use it and the content that they share.
Thus, social media users should be careful to use the Internet responsibly. In the panel on Privacy,
Rights, and Cyber-Security, Javid Hamdard raised another point as to why this is so important:
“Our behavior as users will shape the trends of censorship in Afghanistan.”
Our behavior as users
will shape the trends of
censorship in Afghanistan.
Javid Hamdard

29. 27
People start revolutions,
technologies give them voice
Elmira Bayrasli
27

30. Use Facebook to reach a wider
audience, but use Twitter for
breaking news.
Use #hashtags to keep track
of conversations and to follow
breaking news.
Consider your audience and the best way
to reach them – social media does not
have to mean Facebook, and can also be
done on mobile phones.
Do not share any information
on social media that you
would not want to be public.
Javid Hamdard,
technology expert says
in the Panel Discussion
on Privacy, Rights, and
Cyber-Security.
Eileen Guo, Panel Discussion on Hashtag Activism
Omid Haqbin in Twitter workshop
Eileen Guo in her introductory remarks.

31. 2929#ASMS2014, Conference Report
Use a 2-step log-in process
to stay secure online.
Matt Stephenson, Panel Discussion on Privacy, Rights, and
Cyber-Security
Want to make your #hashtag more
effective? Keep it simple.
Timor Sharan, of #BadakshanNeedsYou,
Panel Discussion on Hashtag Activism.
Want to write a
news article in a
more interesting
format? Use
“listicles”,
or articles
formatted like
lists.
Ruchi Kumar, the
Managing Editor of
Paiwandgah.

32. “How one group is making it easier to
use social media in Afghanistan”
“Afghan Social Media Summit
2014 is talk of the town” “A Look at Digital Afghanistan”

33. 31#ASMS2014, CONFERENCE REPORT
“Social Media Summit looks at
change and potential.”
“Mobile matters in Afghanistan”
“Three-day Afghanistan Social
Media Summit in Kabul”

34. Unique users interacted with the
Afghan Social Media Summit
social media page on Facebook.

35. 33
For more social media coverage of the
event, please check out:
3333
Different Twitter users chimed into the
conversation, live-tweeted on our official #
facebook.com/afghansocialmediasummit
twitter.com/afghansocialmediasummit
#asms2014
youtube.com/user/afgsocialmedia
instagram.com/impassionafghanistan
storify.com/impassionaf/asms2014-
afghan-social-media-summit-returns
afghansocialmediasummit.af

36. ASMS2014 could not have been
possible without a number of
generous and dedicated organizers
and partners. These include not only
Impassion Afghanistan, the main
organizer, but also the following:

37. 35#ASMS2014, CONFERENCE REPORT
About Impassion
Impassion Afghanistan is Afghanistan’s first digital media agency. Impassion was founded
to help world-changing organizations increase impact through social media and mobile
technology. To date, it has worked towards its mission by organizing the now annual Afghan
Social Media Summit, creating Afghanistan’s largest nationwide citizen journalism platform
called Paiwandgah (http://paiwandgah.af), conducting mobile-based surveys in Afghanistan
for a major international news network, as well as representing the highest levels of Afghan
government online.
Learn more at: http://impassion.af

38. ASMS2014 is just one event in a series of
initiatives aimed at increasing the number and skill
level of social media users in Afghanistan. Other
activities from Impassion and our partners include:
• Provincial trainings on digital literacy,
social media, and citizen journalism in
ten provinces around Afghanistan
• Paiwandgah, Afghanistan’s largest
citizen journalism platform, which will
be relaunching with a new site design
in early 2015
paiwandgah.af

39. 37
• ASMS2015, which is scheduled to take place
in September 2015
• The first ever Afghan Social Media
Awards, scheduled to take place during
ASMS2015

41. 39
summit@socialmediasummit.af
Get in touch
with us at
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