Social Media in South India

One of the first ethnographic studies to explore use of social media in the everyday lives of people in Tamil Nadu, Social Media in South India provides an understanding of this subject in a region experiencing rapid transformation. The influx of IT companies over the past decade into what was once a space dominated by agriculture has resulted in a complex juxtaposition between an evolving knowledge economy and the traditions of rural life. While certain class tensions have emerged in response to this juxtaposition, a study of social media in the region suggests that similarities have also transpired, observed most clearly in the blurring of boundaries between work and life for both the old residents and the new.

Venkatraman explores the impact of social media at home, work and school, and analyses the influence of class, caste, age and gender on how, and which, social media platforms are used in different contexts. These factors, he argues, have a significant effect on social media use, suggesting that social media in South India, while seeming to induce societal change, actually remains bound by local traditions and practices.

Praise for Social Media in South India

‘Offers both valuable research sources and reliable investigative perspectives on the contemporary representations and constructions of global media (selfie) tribes.’
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute

‘The virtue of his study … is that [it] forces us to acknowledge the limitations of some of the core conventions of media studies scholarship. …The book would be of most interest to those requiring an introduction to the social media landscape of Tamil Nadu and who lack a background to the broader issues of South Asian anthropology.’
Asian Ethnology

‘[This] fifteen month long ethnographic study gives a detailed description of the Indian social structure based on caste, class and family hierarchies related to age and gender. The book narrates well on how the same is reflected and reaffirmed in their online spaces.’
Communication and Culture Review