Point of Discussion: Will rural India embrace social networks?

An interesting post on Watblog.com, which came to my attention via Avashya, asks the question: How Will Rural India Deal With Social Networking? It is a very intriguing question to ruminate about as more and more technologies aim to connect the rural populations with the remainder of the country. The article takes a very systematic approach to this and breaks the issue down along six criteria, which are pasted after the jump:

1) Occupation

– Urban: Manufacturing and Service

– Rural: Cultivators, agricultural based

2) Size of Community

– Urban: Larger than rural communities, engaged in a variety of communities – schools, colleges, colonies, social, clubs, and internet. Thus one can see that the urban consumer is bombarded with messages and are relatively more open-minded. There is also a high population density.

– Rural: Open farms, relatively smaller and fewer communities with a low population density.

3) Homogeneity of Population

– Urban: More heterogeneous due to a cultivation of varied personalities.

– Rural: More homogenous on radial and psychological traits.

4) SEC differentiation

– Urban: Higher

– Rural: Lower, fewer instances of income inequalities.

5) Mobility

– Urban: Extremely easy, connection to National as well as International destinations. The telecom revolution has ensured that people can travel without moving.

– Rural: May be restricted for occupational purposes, mostly territorial.

6) Environment

– Urban

a) Social: More numerous interpersonal interactions; less frequent.

b) Economic: Monthly income

c) Marketing: High brand exposure and retail outlets

– Rural

a) Social: Less numerous interpersonal interactions; more frequent with the same people; (a valuable insight)

b) Economic: Seasonal income

c) Marketing: Low product and ad exposure

The entire post is very interesting and should be read here.