1. InteractionBetweenSocial Media AndDemocracy A case study on the societal factors influencingsuccess of Ushahidi in Afghanistan Master Thesis | Frans Staal | S679600

2. Beginnings in Kenya Post-election violence 2007/2008 Crowdsources SMS, Email Google Maps Evolved into free and open source platform Input: SMS, MMS, Email, Web form, API, RSS, Visualization: (anonymous)reports on a map, timeline and by category Output: SMS-alerts, Email, RSS

6. Introduction Mass media Distinction information-producers and information-consumers Producers control information Consumers are depended on information Social media Leveling power between producers & consumers creating ‘prosumers’ Current paradigms Social media is an important enabler of democracy Social Media (like Ushahidi) fosters democracy through social activism & citizen journalism Social media has little effect on democracy Social media = no ‘magic bullet’ for democracy Interaction between social media & democracy is complex Social media may even hinder democracy

7. Problem Statement & Research Questions Problem Statement: “How do societal factors influence the interaction between social media crowdsourcing tools, and the democratization process of societies and how can we design better social media crowdsourcing tools, and deploy these tools better, by taking into account societal factors?” Research Questions What is Ushahidi? What are relevant theories and methods for designing IT systems which support societal interaction? How can we explain the effect of media in society and on democracy? How can we explain the effect of the Internet, and specifically social media, in society and on democracy? How do societal factors, design and deployment decisions affect the interaction of social media, and specifically Ushahidi, with the democratization process?

8. Socio-Technical System Socio-technical levels (Whitworth, 2009)

9. Web Of System Performance Web Of System Performance (Whitworth, 2009)

10. Democracy “All democracies share certain important precepts – open debate, with sufferance of unpopular opinions, and decisions taken by honest voting and thereupon accepted.“ Dennis and Snyder (1997) Tocqueville, Democracy in America (1835) Free press is vital for a democracy. When civilians have decision-making rights on the governance of their society, they should be able to become acquainted with the different opinions in their society. The sovereignty of the civilians and freedom of the press are therefore both necessary in a democracy, universal suffrage and censorship are incompatible Associationslead to a self-conscious and active political society and a vibrant civil society functioning independently from the state.

11. Media System Dependencytheory MSD theory (S. J. Ball-Rokeach & DeFleur, 1976)

12. Methodology Research design Exploratory research Qualitative method Case study on the use of Ushahidi in Afghanistan Data collection In-depth interviews Documents Archival records Data analysis External validation Reliability

13. Case: Ushahidi in Afghanistan Presidential elections 2009 Alive in Afghanistan Parliamentary elections 2010 Alive in Afghanistan 2010 Afghan Election Mapper (Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan) Observer Report Map (Democracy International, USAID)

14. Alive in Afghanistan 2009 14

15. Alive in Afghanistan 15

18. Societal Factors Education Structural Location Wealth Age Trust in Government Level of Democracy & Development Gender Communication Infrastructure

19. Design Decisions (Ushahidi) SMS-reporting Visualizing Reports On A Map Free and Open Source Software Easy and Fast setup (Voice Based Reporting)

20. DeploymentsDecisions Partnerships Marketing Strategic Choices on Crowdsourcing Strategic Choices on Anonymity and Accountability Strategic Choices on Community Building Contingency Planning Estimating Feasibility of Citizen-Reporting

21. Conclusion & Discussion Social media interacts with democracy through: Free press Civil society “…how can we design better social media crowdsourcing tools, and deploy these tools better, by taking into account societal factors?” Step 1: Use MSD theory to assess environment Step 2: Use WOSP to design/select right software Step 3: Base deployment choices on step 1 and 2. Further research: Generalization: Interaction societal factors, design and deployment Deployment: Partnerships, marketing and funding of these projects.