• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, December 8, 2011

While there are plenty of skeptics who’ve questioned social media’s capabilities as a tool for affecting social change -- Malcolm Gladwell, I’m looking at you -- the people who actually use social media seem to be convinced that it is a powerful transformational force. That includes young adults in India, according to the Times of India, which reports that a recent survey of  1,200 Indians ages 18-35 believe the social media “empowers them to bring change to the world we live in.”

The survey, conducted by Indiabiz News & Research Services, found that Indian young adults credit social media with helping them influence consumer choice, human rights, politics, and corporate governance. What’s more, it’s increasingly popular as a source of information, with 28% of respondents saying they get news primarily from social media sites -- compared to 54% who get their news from a combination of print, TV, and social media.

Indian young adults are also aware of the general critique leveled by the likes of Gladwell, who charge social media with being an ineffectual, symbolic protest medium that achieves little of substance. 70% of the Indian young adults surveyed said that although social media is useful for organization and spreading awareness, achieving real change also requires action outside social media.

Back in April I wrote about the high-profile anti-corruption campaign launched by Kisan Bapat Baburao Hazare, a.k.a. Anna Hazare, who has successfully employed the age-old tactic of fasting -- to death, if need be -- in order to force the government to act against rampant corruption. Hazare's hunger strike attracted global attention thanks to social media, with an online rally held on Facebook attracting 60,000 attendees, and the Facebook page India Against Corruption receiving 120,000 “likes” and over a million fans by Friday afternoon within four days of launching. Social media has subsequently laid the groundwork for Hazare’s continuing (and apparently successful) campaign to force the Indian government to adopt a stringent anti-corruption law.