Social networking among women of rural and indigenous communities

Social networking – that is communication and exchanges of information and experience among people has been a necessity for survival of human beings for centuries. In early times face to face exchanges, either by gestures and/or orally, by marking on tree trunks, rocks, etc., to inform members of family and/or of the group about animals to be protected from and those to be hunted for food. Later, through innovations, trade, travel, expeditions, etc., connections emerged among people/communities across settlement borders, now extending globally. The focus of writings and discussions on social networking has heretofore been largely on exchanges among scholars, business people, students and common people in the urban and semi-urban environments.. However, in the emerging Inclusive Knowledge Society (IKS) e-communities encompass also non-scholarly and non-business communications among them. In developing countries too community radio and TV have fostered intra-and inter-community exchanges in recent decades. More recently, with the extended coverage of hand-held devices, such as, wireless technology, mobile/cell phones usage in rural areas, has spread, dramatically facilitating social networking among indigenous, rural and marginalized (RIM) communities and between such groups and those in urban areas, governments, NGOs, and others. at various levels, such as, local, national, regional and even global. This short paper considers specifically the role of women of RIM communities and their slow but perceptible transformations with the penetration of information and communication technologies (ICTs). In many developing countries although women play important roles in the family their position is the community is often lower than that of the men. Presents case studies of (1) Awareness of the need for interactions through social networking among rural women (2) Role of ICT in rural women networks e.g. Rural Women Farmers in Uganda; (3) Digital literacy through networking among Rwanda women; (4) Women's role in food security; (5) Satellite communication for the Pacific islanders.