SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES AND INDIAN TEENAGERS

The social networking sites have a primary purpose of promoting communication and interactions amongst users. Such sites like Facebook, Orkut, and Twitter have become popular and a vital part of social life in India, especially among teenagers. However, available literature indicates lack of in-depth study to evaluate how and why Indian teenagers engage with social networking sites. This study hopes to fill this gap as it uses Focus Group Discussion to explore the experiences of Indian teenagers with social networking sites. Information from the groups was analyzed in terms of their use of social networking sites, online versus offline friendships, and extending friendships beyond cyberspace. Our findings indicate that both boys and girls use other forms of communication channels to strengthen existing friendships more with the same gender than with the opposite. However, the boys enjoy more freedom when compared with the girls and they admitted talking to online friends and meeting them outside cyberspace without any hesitation. The girls, on their part, were hesitant to extend online friendships beyond virtual space because of security issues and resistance from family members.Keywords: Social Networking Sites (SNSs), Teenagers, Online relationship, Offline relationship, Indi

SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES AND INDIAN TEENAGERS

The social networking sites have a primary purpose of promoting communication and interactions amongst users. Such sites like Facebook, Orkut, and Twitter have become popular and a vital part of social life in India, especially among teenagers. However, available literature indicates lack of in-depth study to evaluate how and why Indian teenagers engage with social networking sites. This study hopes to fill this gap as it uses Focus Group Discussion to explore the experiences of Indian teenagers with social networking sites. Information from the groups was analyzed in terms of their use of social networking sites, online versus offline friendships, and extending friendships beyond cyberspace. Our findings indicate that both boys and girls use other forms of communication channels to strengthen existing friendships more with the same gender than with the opposite. However, the boys enjoy more freedom when compared with the girls and they admitted talking to online friends and meeting them outside cyberspace without any hesitation. The girls, on their part, were hesitant to extend online friendships beyond virtual space because of security issues and resistance from family members.Keywords: Social Networking Sites (SNSs), Teenagers, Online relationship, Offline relationship, Indi

The social construction of paediatric cataract: how parents make sense of their child's condition

IntroductionChildhood cataract, congenital and traumatic, is the most common treatable cause of childhood blindness, being responsible for 10 to 30 per cent of all childhood blindness. Preventing blindness from childhood cataract requires not only high-quality paediatric surgery, but also an awareness of parents’ understanding of the eye problem, and why they might not agree to surgery for their child. Several studies have examined the medical and social aspects of childhood cataract. Foster et al.1 point out that childhood blindness has huge socio-economic costs, and restoring the sight of one child blind from cataract is considered equivalent to restoring the sight of 10 elderly adults. It is therefore crucial that we understand why parents might not take up the option of surgery

Pre-test of pictorial health warnings on tobacco products to test their effectiveness - study based in India

Background In 2014, the Government of India's Ministry of Health & Family Welfare constituted an expert group for development of pictorial health warnings for tobacco products. Accordingly, six prototypes were developed with warnings displayed on the front and back occupying 85 percent of the space. The packs visually showed the adverse impact of tobacco consumption. The prototypes were pretested. The objective of the pretest was to assess the effectiveness of the health warnings and messages on different target groups in terms of noticeability, comprehension, informativeness, credibility, legibility, clarity of color & design, and intention to change behavior. The main task of the study was to exhibit six types of pack warnings developed separately for cigarette, bidi, and smokeless tobacco users and non-users and rank them based on their reactions to each of the attributes listed above. Methods The pre-testing was undertaken in one district each of the three states of India. In all, the study area covered 28 locations. The total number of respondents was 300 comprising of tobacco users and non-users. The sample included adult women and men. The study used qualitative methodology for pre-testing the pack warnings on cigarette, bidi and smokeless tobacco packs. It conducted: 28 focus group discussions and 20 in depth interviews. Results The study concluded that the image on cigarette, bidi or smokeless tobacco packs is the main source of information. Pack warnings which showed damage on the face or a disease were more impactful and understood. Cigarette/ Bidi are often bought loose, especially by those who are in the age group 18-25 years. Hence, the likelihood of noticing the pack warning is much lower by this age group. Conclusions The study recommended that the image and the written warning on the pack must match and must be in English and an Indian language