Social media can play a vital role in the socio-economic uplift and image building of the country as it can project views and opinions from different nooks and corners of Pakistan. Despite the fact that the country has various print and electronic media outlets, the flogging video or double murder case came in the limelight through a social media website. Arab Spring is another major example of the strength of social media.
This was the crux of the first-ever International Urdu Bloggers Conference 2013, which was organised by the Asian Canadian Journalists Association (ACJA), held on Saturday at Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI). Delivering the welcome speech, ACJA President Mohsin Abbas said the very objective of conducting this conference at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry was to let the businessmen know that they did not have to learn English or any other language to use modern technology as they can get hold of new ideas and solutions to different problems suggested by Urdu bloggers in their own mother language. He said he came from Canada to encourage his fellow Pakistanis in their efforts to express their opinion on different social problems and suggesting their possible solutions.
He said he had planned to arrange such conferences annually in different cities of Pakistan to create unity amongst Urdu bloggers in order to promote and encourage them. He said it was encouraging that on his invitation, bloggers from all big and small cities are participating in this event. He said people had travelled from Quetta, Karachi, Peshawar, Sialkot, Khanewal, Multan and other parts of the country on their own expenses to promote their language.Addressing the inaugural session of the conference, LCCI Vice President Mian Abuzar Shad stressed the need of utilising collective wisdom of blogging and social media community to bring the country out of this socio-economic turmoil. He said the bloggers and the social media writers are emerging think tanks of the modern world and they can provide innovative solutions to pressing problems. He said the business community was ready to invest in new ventures for the economic well-being and for creating new job opportunities but it needed new ideas which could come through these brilliant minds.
He highlighted that leading businessmen, economists and politicians were already getting benefits from still there was a need to develop the culture of reading and writing. Mian Abuzar Shad said there was a need to promote Urdu blogging along the lines of English blogging as process of thought was better expressed in one’s own language. He said Germany, Japan and China achieved progress and glory in every field without leaving their own national language and traditions.
The LCCI vice president said blog writing not only sharpens one’s intellect but also enables one to share his experiences with persons in the other parts of the world for the collective benefit of all. He assured help to ACJA and to the blogging community for the promotion of these thought provoking efforts and the idea of sharing. He said it was time when people only exchanged email addresses but now they take great pride in sharing their blogs and social media links.
