The fieldsite we call 'Panchagrami' is located near the metropolis of Chennai in the state of Tamil Nadu. Originally a group of five villages, it is now the site of a major IT park established under a government initiative. On any working day this area is not only home to approximately 30,000 residents, but also to over 200,000 IT workers who commute to work here. As a result this area has undergone major transformations both in infrastructure and population, and is in the midst of changing its identity from an agriculture-based economy to a knowledge-based one. Panchagrami provides a particularly complex and multilayered environment for the reception of new social media.
Videos
Social Networking
YouTube: Edutainment
Facebook - The News Medium
WhatsApp - My Yellow Pages
Multiple uses of WhatsApp
Family and social media
South India: Polymedia
Emails in later life
social media for a rural student
Facebook - A Teenager's Perspective
Facebook by the fields
Brandbuilding on Facebook
Women bonding on social media
Meet the People of Panchagrami
Impact of Social Media on Politics
Street Play on social media
![Shriram Venkatraman Shriram Venkatraman](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/why-we-post/sites/why_we_post/files/styles/medium_image/public/shriram-venkatraman.jpg?itok=n3SQwbrv)
Our researcher in India
Shriram Venkatraman is a PhD candidate at the Department of Anthropology, University College London. He is also a trained professional statistician and prior to his doctoral studies at UCL, held leadership positions at Walmart, USA. His research interests include technologies in work places, organisational culture, and entrepreneurship.