In today’s society, entire groups of people are systematically deprived of social recognition, equal opportunities, resources and social value based on the familiar fault lines of socio-economic class, educational status, geographic location, physical ability, race, ethnicity, age, nationality, religion, and gender.

Poverty divides us but social inclusion can unite. This is the focus of the conference (Promoting Social Inclusion), which will take place in Brussels on 2-3 December 2010.

Social inclusion is promoted in the digital age through the production and deployment of the new media such as weblogs, wikis, podcasts, Internet forums, pictures and videos that give voice to the experiences of socially, racially, politically and economically marginalized individuals, communities, and institutions.

Can the use of social media lead to better social inclusion?

Social media is changing the way we work. People turn to the web to find out about many things – from days out, new jobs, housing, entertainment and shopping, to making connections with friends and colleagues.

Social media is having an impact on both formal and informal learning – and changing the face of both education and training.

Social media support more engaging and playful approaches, provide new formats for creative expression, and encourage learners and teachers to experiment with different, innovative, ways of articulating their thoughts and ideas.

The learning landscape itself is in turn shaped by experimentation, collaboration and empowerment, and allows learners and teachers to discover new ways of actively and creatively developing their individual competences.

With the emergence of social media applications, which encourage a more active and interactive Internet usage, this trend is developing further. These services provide users with online networks and communities for multi-directional communication and knowledge exchange and allow them to publish and share digital content like photos, videos and music.

Social media can actively support lifelong learning by offering accessible, flexible and dynamic learning environments that can complement and supplement initial training. Furthermore, the networking potential of social media, together with its power to overcome time and space barriers, supports interaction and collaboration among and between learners and teachers who are geographically dispersed and enables students to broaden their horizons, and collaborate across borders, language barriers, and institutional walls.

Building societies for all is one of the conference sessions, which will introduce the role of the social media in combating poverty and promoting social inclusion.

We encourage you to join the conversation with our speakers and social media experts (Silvia Cambié and Mark Comerford) and interact with them to explore how social media can engage communities and people on the ground to support social inclusion with a particular focus on education and training.

Share your thoughts with us.

By: Jasmine Elnadeem