1

Group Leader:

Areena Laraib (FA18-BPY-011)

Group Members

Syeda Zoha Fatima (FA18-BPY-069)

Nissa Iqbal Malik (FA18-BPY-049)

Sumbal Arooj Raja (FA18-BPY-067)

Hira Anjum (FA18-BPY-030)

Sadia Javed (FA18-BPY-058)

Course:

Media Communications

DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES

COMSATS UNIVERSITY ISLAMABAD CAMPUS

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Assignment 1

ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

1) AREENA LARAIB (011)

Role of social media in mass communication and journalism:

The social media usage has been increased across the globe significantly. As stated by Al-Sabti1,

Ajay, and Jha (2017), there are around 1,4 billion users of Facebook and other social media sites

in year 2015 and is seen to be constantly increasing. Globally, people have left footstep in media

sites. The social media usage is linked with mass communication, and is considered to be

important mean of communication, just TV, radio and press in past. The social media plays

important role in dissemination of the latest news regarding anything happing in the world,

region, or country (Sandra, 2013).

As stated by researcher Castells, Parks, Haak, (2012), the media in past has faced various

challenges in communication of information due to control measures by authorities. While the

technology driven social media, sites have accelerated change and led to media to a newer

domain. Due to social media, the journalism has been altered the ways of information is

produced, distributed, and used. With the emergence of social media in mass communication, the

media has witnessed the new tools and practices, that not only leads to the flurry of ways of

producing information but also it has helped in dissemination of data and info, and has redefined

the role the professional journalist are playing in domains of mass media and communication.
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The most essential and worthy role of social media is the way the listeners and audience have

been addressed by social media, due to the changes of consumption habits. One of the

researchers Vukanovic, (2009) have mentioned that it is easier for the audiences to upload and

share online information as well as distribute the content using social media platforms.

Hansen et al. (2017) have defined the social media as the online platforms that are the modern

alternative of the social interactions and allow the people to communicate information and

interact using the digital media. The social media facilitates the knowledge sharing and has

helped shifting the mass communication from monologue into a dialog, where two-sided

interactivity is possible. The social media sites are characterized by the social structure that

consisted of social actors creating different setting and allow interaction among major

stakeholders of the society, like individuals, authorities, communities, and organizations.

Stated by Scholz et al (2018), social media has led to many positive and negative changes in

communication between social actors and the ways culture and society has been discussed. Using

social media, people have more open and wide opportunities to interact, and engage with people

of diverse mindsets, and diverse backgrounds, thus people through social media can get to know

various perspective of the same ideology. Different social media sites allow the diverse types of

information and opportunity to exchange different point of views and ideologies with other

people (Reddick, & Norris, 2013). Researcher Salmeron et al (2018), have mentioned that the

people with different mindset and background consistently share their opinions on social media,

and distribute their articles, photographs, videos, and recordings using different platforms of

social media such as “Facebook, WhatsApp, Viber, YouTube.”

In a nutshell, it can be stated that the social media is both positive and negative source of

communication, as it has both type of implications. It allows the sharing of information, and
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higher level of interactivity, with a lesser control from the higher authorities as in case of press

and radio TV. Yet, the lack of control from authorities may lead to various negative outcomes

such as spread of fake news, rumors and cybersecurity related issues.

References:

Stamp, G. (1986b). Management Styles. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 7(3),

27–32. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb053600

and digital economics. The International Journal on Media Management 11(2), p.

81–90.

CASTELLS, M., PARKS, M., van der HAAK, B. (2012). The future of journalism: Networked

journalism. International Journal of Communication 6 Feature 2923–2938,

http://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/viewFile/1750/832

Reddick, C.G.; Norris, D.F. Social media adoption at the American grass roots: Web 2.0 or 1.5?

Gov. Inf. Q. 2013, 30, 498–507

Salmerón, L.; García, A.; Vidal-Abarca, E. The development of adolescents’ comprehension-

based Internet reading activities. Learn. Individ. Differ. 2018, 61, 31–39

Sandra, G. (2013). The Role and Functions of Social Media in Modern Society. Is social Media

Worthwile for Local Media?. Žurnalistikos Tyrimai. 6. 43-62.

10.15388/zt/jr.2013.6.7401.

Scholz, M.; Schnurbus, J.; Haupt, H.; Dorner, V.; Landherr, A.; Probst, F. Dynamic effects of

user- and marketer-generated content on consumer purchase behavior: Modeling the

hierarchical structure of social media websites. Decis. Support Syst. 2018, 113, 43–55
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VUKANOVIC, Z. (2009). Global paradigm shift: Strategic management of new and digital

media in new

2) SADIA JAVED (058)

Social media and public awareness:

Environmental awareness:

Face book, WhatApp, LinkedIn, Skype, Google, Instagram, Twitter all these names are very

famous in those days. Social networking sites have their styles and also their applications. For

the promotion and various environmental issues, social media engage in a vital job. Social media

involve in a strong role in awareness about global warming, climate change, ozone depletion, etc.

many participants especially youngsters play important role in the thin campaign (Robelia,

Greenhow & Burton, 2011). People gain the ability to change their behavior toward the

environment for conducting clean and clear environment. People take social media as an

important tool for their public participation, influencing others toward the environment and also

affect government decisions. People get connected through this and meet the challenges of

environmental issues and influence the world through their actions (Warner, Eames & Irving,

2014).

Awareness about Public health:

Different platforms are used to spread the news of pandemics like in the covid-19 situation and

also lead to anxiety among the population. Scholars used different types of data to find out how

social media convey different information's about different diseases and disasters among all
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worlds. It also transfers through ids, different behavioral patterns of social media users (Zadeh et

al. 2019). (Ye et al ,2018) examine the rumors of public health and then examine how social

media is framing the negativity, infection rates, prediction, etc. the inaccurate posts on Facebook

are the more popular than accurate ones about the Zika virus information (Sharma et al. ,2017).

Marsh (2018) also examine the influence of social media on public health communication of

Ebola and Zika and also concludes the user's attitude, trust in the social media influence the

impact of news on his/her health. The general population has a limited connection with social

media and mostly they can't find out the differences between actual news and rumors about the

diseases.

Social media and mental health:

The mental health awareness campaigns are the source to talk about mental illness through social

media. This awareness directly impacts mental health outcomes. It has a positive impact on

people. Social media was actively worked in changing the dynamics of different types of

communication and work culture. Researchers suggest that 83% of people age 18-29 are mostly

used social media sites. Social media is sensible as promoting mental health awareness, explain

to people how to understand other problems and their solutions.

The 5th biggest disease is mental health and stigma has the biggest restriction to solve this

problem. Effective positive messages need to be generated and delivered through different social

media sites and broke the stigma about mental health. People are more connected through social

media, so it is helpful to deliver more mental health pieces of information. People feel relaxation

and motivation through social media. Different campaigns to change behavior among youth are

play an important role like hostages on Instagram here for you to promote to talk about mental
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illness. Many studies were organized to interpret the uses of social media platforms to promote

mental health illness.

References:

Barabási A-L (2005) The origin of bursts and heavy tails in human dynamics.

Nature435(7039),207–211, https://idp.nature.com/authorize/casa?

redirect_uri=https://www.nature.com/articles/nature03459 HYPERLINK

"https://idp.nature.com/authorize/casa?

redirect_uri=https://www.nature.com/articles/nature03459&casa_token=HjsPzEr0uRgA

AAAA:8RaiUe2iBDkPlLOnIvbxf-f8HpWtUEikYAAqYIeO_ck2nn-LRDkb0Fu-xC6K_-

4rgwWRV3wYIv8NMJCClQ"& HYPERLINK "https://idp.nature.com/authorize/casa?

redirect_uri=https://www.nature.com/articles/nature03459&casa_token=HjsPzEr0uRgA

AAAA:8RaiUe2iBDkPlLOnIvbxf-f8HpWtUEikYAAqYIeO_ck2nn-LRDkb0Fu-xC6K_-

4rgwWRV3wYIv8NMJCClQ"casa_token=HjsPzEr0uRgAAAAA:8RaiUe2iBDkPlLOnI

vbxf-f8HpWtUEikYAAqYIeO_ck2nn-LRDkb0Fu-xC6K_-4rgwWRV3wYIv8NMJCClQ

K. Latha, K. S. Meena, M. R. Pravitha, Madhuporna Dasgupta, and S. K. Chaturvedi. (2020).

Effective use of social media platforms for promotion of mental health awareness.

Journal of education and health promotion, 9, 124.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7325786/

Karim, F., Oyewande, A. A., Abdalla, L. F., Chaudhry Ehsanullah, R., & Khan, S. (2020). Social

Media Use and Its Connection to Mental Health: A Systematic Review. Cureus, 12(6),

e8627. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.8627

3) HIRA ANJUM (030)

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Social media education for students

Social media is now most useable platform for education and other knowledge gaining sites. Due

to facing problems, most of the students solve their problems by sharing these in any platform of

social media. This make easy for them. Social media is become the part of their lives for learning

things. Through social media, students can easily interact with others for help and guidance for

educational problems. They can also share details and gain information about anything in their

course. At the same time, many people also find faults in using social media because they

estimated that most of students also waste their time on other platforms. On the other hand if we

see, social media also provide endless set of circumstances that makes it possible to do

something different and new things in this world about learning and education.

Following are some uses of social media in education:

⦁ Educational advantages

We are updated timely through social media about much latest technical knowledge for both

students and teachers and also enhance the level of interest in students to study hard and set goals

for future. Most of the important factor of social media is internet. Through this technology, we

are connected with each other and communicate easily without any barrier. One of the uses of

social media for students and teacher is making PowerPoint. By adding related pictures of topic

makes it more interesting for students to understand efficiently.

⦁ Information Sharing By Students:

Now-a-days smartphones are essential for everyone as a part of life. Smartphones are the

important device that is connected through internet and provide many platforms to exchange
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information between students and teachers. They can share any type of information, as

educational information to other students or a memes for fun to friends.

⦁ Developing Skills

In this period of time, having skills is the basic need for students to survive peaceful life because

this is most advanced period of time as compared to past one. So, we can say that social media

plays a vital role in mentally growth of students for better life as a creative thinker, master’s in

communication and skills to convincing someone as a marketer and a businessman. Social media

is not only educational platform but also teach students how to survive in this world with suitable

skills and how we can fight against our negative thoughts and bad time of life.

References:

Role of social media and its importance in teaching and learning. (2020). Matrix High School.

Retrieved from Benefits of Using Social Media for Educational Purposes | Social Media

Revolver

Why social media is important in education. (n.d.). Source Essay. Retrieved from Why Social

Media Is Important HYPERLINK "https://sourceessay.com/why-social-media-is-

important-in-education/"In HYPERLINK "https://sourceessay.com/why-social-media-is-

important-in-education/" Education? Online assignment help (sourceessay.com)

Norman, N. (2019). Benefits of using social media for educational purposes. Social Media

Revolver. Retrieved from Benefits of Using Social Media for Educational Purposes |

Social Media Revolver

4): NISA IQBAL (049)

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Covid-19 & role of social media:

Never, before in human history, has it been possible to effectively communicate, including

timely updating the public with accurate information, updates and relevant advice or

recommendations, during the pandemic. With the ongoing crises like COVID-19 epidemic,

social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have become a primary source of

disseminating information among its users. (Valck, 1999). With implementation of social

distancing requirements likely extending for some period of time, there remains a need to

explore how individuals get their social needs met but social media has largely contributed to

these issues, offering the best practices for its users to help maintain and stay connected with

friends and family and reducing social isolation and boredom which can either be associated with

anxiety or long-term distress. These uses range from hosting online virtual gatherings with

friends and family to “attending” religious services held through video-based platforms, among

other things which therefore prove as a survival tool for isolation at home and to help reduce its

psychological impact (Pew Research Center 2020a, 2020b)

More so, many reputable organizations including the government bodies and large agencies like

the World Health Organization (WHO) have also established their presence on the public forum

and have recognized social media as “something to engage the public, facilitate peer to peer

communication, create situational awareness, monitor and respond to rumors, public reactions

and concerns during an emergency, and facilitate a local level response.” (World health

organization, 2017)

Social Media and Human Rights

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Media technology has bought some strong potential for doing good for humanity. If we assess its

potential in the mainstream of launching human right campaigns, there is a large - scale

difference that is noticeable before and after the emergence of social media platform. This in

general is because, social media allows information to flow forth and back among millions of

sources at the same time. This means that millions of people can be exposed to a medium, in

which they may play an active key role in promoting and protecting human rights. For example,

Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) that uses, social media platforms for online mobilization

and attending human right emergencies.

Social media serves to be the most powerful tool used for freedom of expression. Egyptian

government had owned a newspaper, Al – Ahram that had reported, of a girl being named

“Facebook Jamal Ibrahim” by her father, in credits to the active participation played by social

networking medium in “Egyptian Revolution” (Lukose, Lisa & Mathur, Alankrita. (2019).

With millions of its active users, social media can easily resort to propagate one’s ideas and

opinions, used to condemn human right violations and helping enormously to create enough

awareness regarding human right amongst people. Sometimes even a single expression of idea

on social media can become the voice of many voiceless existing around us. There can be

profound plurality and diversity observed in every thought, opinions, and expression on online

participation medium.

On a similar level, to organize people and events, communication can be shared effectively and

efficiently across users through social media platform. It also creates deterrence in the mind of

people, since any human right violation can be recorded and shared online across millions of

people in minutes. This fear considerably reduces crime rates in the society and helps to ensure

that culprits are held accountable, and justice is served.

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Social media serves to be the most powerful tool used for freedom of expression. A week after

the overthrow of the twenty-eight-year authoritarian regime of the president Hosini Mubarak, the

day of February 18, 2011, Egyptian government had owned a newspaper, Al – Ahram that had

reported, of a girl being named “Facebook Jamal Ibrahim” by her father, in credits to the active

participation played by social networking medium in “Egyptian Revolution” (Lukose, Lisa &

Mathur, Alankrita. (2019).

With millions of its active users, social media can easily resort to propagate one’s ideas and

opinions, used to condemn human right violations and helping enormously to create enough

awareness regarding human right amongst people. Sometimes even a single expression of idea

on social media can become the voice of many voiceless existing around us. There can be

profound plurality and diversity observed in every thought, opinions, and expression on online

participation medium.

With the advancement of technology, social media has also become an accessible tool amongst

first and second world countries. It can also be used to address several issues faced by third

world countries such as lack of education, communication gap, government passivity etc. It

continues to educate people of their basic rights and how to register for a complaint in case

human right violation is being observed, it can also educate regarding how to approach authority

and so on. On a similar level, to organize people and events, communication can be shared

effectively and efficiently across users through social media platform. It also creates deterrence

in the mind of people, since any human right violation can be recorded and shared online across

millions of people in minutes. This fear considerably reduces crime rates in the society and helps

to ensure that culprits are held accountable, and justice is served.

References
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Bastani, P., & Bahrami, MA. (n.d). COVID-19 related misinformation on social media; A

Qualitative study from Iran. J Med Internet Res 2020. http://doi.org/10.2196/18932

Brooks, SK., Webster, RK., Smith, LE., Woodland, L., Wessely, S., & Greenberg N, et al. The

psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence.

Lancet (2020); 395:912-20.

International Telecommunication Union. Measuring the Information Society Report 2019.

Geneva: International Telecommunication Union; 2019. Retrieved from:

https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/default.aspx.

Lukose, L., & Mathur , A. (2019). (PDF) human right and social media - find and share research.

Retrieved September 24, 2021, from

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331715928_Human_Right_and_Social_Media

World Health Organisation. Communicating risk in public health emergencies. Geneva: World

Health Organisation (2017). Retrieved from:

https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/259807/9789241550208- eng.pdf?

sequence=2

Zhao, Y., & Zhang, J. (n.d). Consumer health information seeking in social media: A literature

review. Health Info library Journal, 268 – 83.

5) SYEDA ZOHA FATIMA (069)

Role of social media in daily life (police, communication, health)

Social media use internet and mobile-based mostly technologies to support movie dialogue and

introduce substantial and pervasive changes to communications between organizations,

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communities, and individuals. Social media is that the method by which individuals and

technology interact to form communities and conversations online, Social media is important

because it spreads Important Information, to the general public and Informs us what is happening

all around the world, It is also important for Important For Business as it is a marketing tool used

by many of the big-name companies we see, It helps us s keep up with our peers, binds us

together as a culture, creates friendships, opens our minds to other thoughts and opinions.

It permits teams supported common interests adore students to figure out a cooperative cluster

project outside of their classroom. It promotes creativeness and collaboration with a large variety

of commentators on a range of problems such as education, economics, politics, race, health,

relationships and so forth. In the article "Web-based Media Helps Students Write Better"

Andrew Simmons expressed: "Many individuals contend that shoptalk energized by web-based

media negatively affects understudy composing. Notwithstanding, web-based media can help

understudies, particularly male secondary school understudies, to uncover their feelings.

furthermore, examining points that make their composing all the more remarkable and legit ...

this more prominent opportunity of articulation further develops writing in school.

In the growing digital world, you can't deny the power of social media. Suppose if you want to

be a writer you can use social media for it. You need to start writing on social media platforms,

build your community, and engage your audience. Eventually, you will end up building your

image as a writer with the following huge fan who is the power of social media.

Take another example: You are operating for a great cause, and also you need to accumulate a

few budgets for it. You write your heart out on social media, the proportion you publish in

organizations and groups, and in case your publish gets observed you’ll achieve success to your

mission - that’s the strength of social media.

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Another example: you want to be a singer but the people in your neighborhood don't pay

attention to you. You can use YouTube to do this. Just sing a song and upload your video to

YouTube, share it, and go viral. There may be times when you don't get views right away, but if

you continue to do so regularly, someone will someday notice your song. If you use social media

properly, you can not only grow your online presence, but you can also help others and even

build your brand image. Conclusion: social media Is the Best Platform to Spread Good Things

Because the World Is Now on the Internet

The internet has become more and more centrally involved in the social life of human beings.

Social Media creates many more opportunities for reciprocal social exchanges. Friendships are

less and and less bound by geographical location. It acts as a connector for people with similar

interests, culture or other shared experiences. The internet has become more and more centrally

involved in the social life of human beings. Social Media creates many more opportunities for

reciprocal social exchanges. Friendships are less and and less bound by geographical location. It

acts as a connector for people with similar interests, culture or other shared experiences. The

friendship that form via social media is Capable of meeting people with similar interest, People

use social media to cope with anxiety, it allows people to add people as friends so you can easily

keep in touch, Attractiveness, creating a fun experience, Enhance academic performance and

Self-Disclosure

The article "Do Social Networking Sites Have a Positive Impact on the World?" "Says," Social

media advocates guarantee that destinations like Facebook and Twitter have united individuals.

Making companions has never been simpler than it is today, particularly because of interpersonal

interaction destinations ... only years and years prior, it was very hard to enter. in contact with

individuals, except if you're the sort too friendly to be in any way ready to speak with anybody at
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a party. The ascent of cellphones helped change that, associating individuals recently, however at

that point online media was conceived and the entire thought of fellowship changed by and by.

"(Dave Parrack)"

Importance of social media in Police Department:

Social networks are also used by the police to track down criminals. The “10 Pros and Cons of

Social Media” article says, “The NYPD started using Twitter in 2011 to track down criminals

dumb enough to brag about their crimes online. When the Vancouver Canucks lost the Stanley

Cup in 2011, their Vancouver fans took to the streets and rioting, but local officials used social

media to track and tag those involved and captured those who stole during the riot. "

How does a doctor use it:

⦁ Greatest research & crowd sourcing network tool known in existence - can be used to not

just gather information but build a network collaborate.

⦁ Patients can be reached out instantly and if they need it anonymously, same goes for

focus groups in phycology

⦁ Real time help via videos can save lives in emergency and disaster relief situations

References

Akram, W. (2018, March 21). A Study on Positive and Negative Effects of Social Media on

Society.

ResearchGate.https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323903323_A_Study_on_Positiv

e_and_Negative_Effects_of_Social_Media_on_Society
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Berryman, C. (2017, November 1). Social Media Use and Mental Health among Young. . .

Psychiatric Quarterly. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11126-017-9535-6?

error=cookies_not_supported&code=96f18e8a-0de5-4f61-b958-d3d16909b438

G, S. (2020). https://medwinpublishers.com/NNOA/NNOA16000183.pdf. Nanomedicine &

Nanotechnology Open Access, 5(2). https://doi.org/10.23880/nnoa-16000183

Sawyer, R. (n.d.). The Impact of social media on Intercultural Adaptation.

DigitalCommons@URI. Retrieved September 24, 2021, from

https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/com_facpubs/15/

6) SUMBAL AROOJ RAJA (067)

Due to recent advancements in wireless technology, new methods of communication and

avenues have opened up. Because of the enormous creation of the World Wide Web, millions of

individuals across the world are now actively participating in political, financial, cultural, and

academic discourses. It's true that social media has altered people's habits and provided a new

way of interacting with one another. Many people, even only a few years ago, had no idea of the

categories that such well-known social networks as Facebook and Twitter might give. Facebook

has grown to be among the world's most popular networks for exchanging ideas, photographs,

and other media (Yahia et al, 2018). However, social networking platforms have altered societal

institutions as well as business, education, and governance. As a result, social media has a wide-

ranging influence on modern society, touching business, culture, politics, schooling, and

commerce all at the same time. Following are some of the most common sources of social media.

Facebook
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This friendly social media strategy requires one to begin with the creation of business a fan page.

In this platform, the firm posts various business-related articles whereby a direct personal

conversation is involved between the audience and the firm. While using Facebook, one should

ensure friendliness and be free while chatting with the audience.

Google

This platform is the greatest competitor to Facebook. In Google+, one creates small groups

whereby s/he can share the information freely with the public or friends of choice. This sharing

of information to small groups creates a network, which can be used to reach wider audiences

and thus the circle enlarges exponentially, which in return offers a good platform for information

sharing. Using this tool, video conferencing can be done in some creative way

Twitter

This platform is a two-way traffic social media and individuals linked can follow one another via

retweeting posts. For business, tweets should be mixed with businesses related information and

fun. While using this social media, one should ensure immediate response to the questions raised

by the audience. This move will enable businesses to create interpersonal terms with their

audiences (Dedeoğlu et al, 2020).

From the above stated social mediums, it is evident that social media drives traffic to a given

website coupled with helping businesses to reach more customers. According to Yahia et al

(2018), social media provides a venue whereby firms are in a position to understand the

perception of their products to the targeted audience by coming into direct contact with them

through the social media. Hence, social media is a proven business promotional tool.
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While working on social media, one of the concepts that capture the audiences’ attention is the

profile of the firm of interest. This aspect affects the reputation of the company either positively

or negatively. The profile of a given firm is one of the ever-changing documentations in any case

of an advertisement because it represents the current skills and the level of professionalism to the

person interested in networking. It is always advisable when writing down the profile of a

company to ensure that it starts with your name (Feezell, 2018).

References:

Dedeoğlu, B. B., Taheri, B., Okumus, F., & Gannon, M. (2020). Understanding the importance

that consumers attach to social media sharing (ISMS): Scale development and validation.

Tourism Management, 76, 103954.

Feezell, J. T. (2018). Agenda setting through social media: The importance of incidental news

exposure and social filtering in the digital era. Political Research Quarterly, 71(2), 482-

494.

Yahia, I. B., Al-Neama, N., & Kerbache, L. (2018). Investigating the drivers for social

commerce in social media platforms: Importance of trust, social support and the platform

perceived usage. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 41, 11-19.

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Quiz 1

Book Review Part 1

Branding Yourself

1) Areena Laraib (Page 3 to 7)

The first chapter of the book is related to self-promotion, which has been described in the book

as promoting yourself, or any event, accomplishment and victories. The self-promotion also

includes the failures and the lessons that one has learnt from it (Goldin, 2014; Blau and Kahn,

2017). Similarly, as stated by Murciano-Goroff, (2021), the self-promotion is the way by which

one communicates his/ her performance, goals and victories, talents and abilities to others.

Usually, the communication occurs in very subjective terms. The book has described the self-

promotion as self-branding referring to “branding yourself.” The self-promotion is very

impornat, as it helps in making the connections and links that helps one to get further ahead in

professional life and opens many paths for career. The self-promotion can lead to better career

opportunities by allowing one to improve professional standing. The self-promotion can be very

simple as giving detailed introduction, in front of any organization, conference or meting, by

 21

giving insight about the strengths, accomplishments and victories one has attained in life

(Goldin, 2014).

The self-promotion can unknowingly and undoubtedly make one successful, however it is not

very easy to promote self. despite the fact that everyone in the world tries to impress other

specially in work-life to get incentives, yet Leary, Bednarski, Hammon, & Duncan, (1997) have

stated that creating good impression by self-promotion can be difficult. Usually, when one is too

promotional, it is viewed as negative, so the person must be able to communicate his

accomplishments in best possible way without exaggeration. It is stated that the “Self-promotion

is not bragging or boasting. It’s not being something bigger than you are.” So, the person must be

truthful while communicating and prompting the self. If the person already is a successful

individual in work life, the promotion can make the self-branding more string and successful,

leading the information to huge population.

People have emotional responses and when they meet someone, they immediately associate

some emptions with the person which can either be negative or positive. The emotional

responses can range from feelings of joy, pleasure, love, dread, fear, or anger. People by hearing

someone’s name, develop either positive and negative experience or reaction based on the repute

or image they have in mind. These emotional responses are basically based on the person, as how

he communicates his or her personality and accomplishments. In order to cater the negative

responses, the proper branding is important. If the person is able to create true and positive

emotional response, it means the personal branding or promotion is done correctly. If someone

hears your name, sees you online, or get the chance to interact or meet you, they get positive

emotional response. The emotional response must be linked with one’s true self, his personality,

his vibe, his interest and hobbies, not the exaggerated version of someone, which only mentioned
 22

the fake successes to create positive image. The true branding refers to that the the image and

repute of you as a person is created by the actions you take, the things you say, and the photos

you post, everything should communicate your personality, and all should in line and fit within

your personal brand, and the information that is communicated is true and legitimate.

References:

Blau, Francine D., and Lawrence M. Kahn. 2017. “The Gender Wage Gap: Extent, Trends. and

Explanations.” Journal of Economic Literature, 55(3).

Goldin, Claudia. 2014. “A Grand Gender Convergence: Its Last Chapter.” American Economic

Review, 104(4): 1091–1119.

Leary, M. R., Bednarski, R., Hammon, D., & Duncan, T. (1997). Blowhards, snobs, and

narcissists: Interpersonal reactions to excessive egotism. In R. M. Kowalski (Ed.),

Aversive interpersonal behaviors (pp. 111–131). New York, NY: Plenum.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4757-9354-3_6

Murciano-Goroff, Raviv. 2021. “Missing women in tech: The labor market for highly skilled

software engineers.” Management Science.

2) Nissa Iqbal ( Page 8-12)

Self- branding is known as the device for self-promotion for the pursuit of self-realization

(Gandhi, 2016, p. 124). You need to ask yourself these questions; what I want to be basically

known for? What qualities I want my audience to associate with myself? What is the first thing I

want to pop in my audience’s head, when they hear my name somewhere?

There are five universal objectives for anyone who is trying to grow their brand.
 23

Discover your passion: it’s important to have at least one passion in your life. It can be

something you want to be known for, something you want to build your personal brand on, or it

could be something you want to do in private but by sharing your passion with others you realize

how common interests you share with someone. The most important thing is to make sure your

goals and passion are aligned with each other so that you can achieve one through another.

People who don’t have passion have made their existence meaningless and useless. They only

live and work to make their ends meet. They wake up early in the morning for the fear of losing

their jobs. Nothing excites or pleasures them about life and its colors.

Be bold: Sometimes we associate self- promotion with bragging. We believe that letting people

know about our achievements or success is almost equivalent to bragging about how much salary

we make. The difference between self- promotion and bragging lies in the reasons you provide,

behind why you want to tell people. If it’s something you feel proud of, something you feel

excited to let people know about or just to give them an idea of self-promotion that’s called self -

promotion. Even if it’s something you want your audience to do, see, visit, or even buy for that

matter. However, if you’re announcing something so other people will be envious, jealous or

think of you as too cool, that’s called bragging, and this results in people not liking you or your

brand. The most important thing is that people should be interested in what you have to say and

its perfectly fine to say it. According to (Cheston, 2016) to know what you have is desirable and

important to your audience so you could convince them to hire you or promote you or to help

you get into positions of power and influence is the best way to lose self - doubt. However, self-

promotion specifically may seem harder for people belonging from Midwest but to make a name

for ourselves or to earn a good reputation and to attract bigger clients and bigger opportunities
 24

we must overcome the Midwest shyness in ourselves and be willing to talk about ourselves

openly.

Tell your story: the best way you can build your personal brand is, to talk more about other

people, events, and ideas than you can talk about yourself. This is because if you talk about

others, promoting their victories and their ideas, your seen as an influencer but if your seen

talking about yourself over and over, your just evaluated as a boring person. This concept can be

known as Brand storytelling which typically uses persuasion to convey beliefs to the target

audience on which they can base their own identities. (Kemp, Childers & Williams, 2012)

According to the opinion given by (Hermansson, 2008), storytelling is basically a part of human

communication and when this is used by an organization, it is used to establish a connection on a

personal ground with employees and customer’s feelings and emotions while also facilitating

conveyance of complicated messages. Example: Coca Cola is seen as the world’s most valuable

and largest beverage brand with more that 500 brands sold in more than 200 countries. What

makes this brand so renowned and unique is its powerful brand storytelling technique which is

used to engage its customers (Pulizzi 2012a; Interbrand 2014)

So, the conclusion to all this is that try to observe people as possible. Study what they wear, what

they eat or what they drive and try to make deductions from your observations. These symbols

we wear or brands we support are our personal stories without the use of verbal communication.

They let people know who we are and what we believe in, and this is what we want you to know.

References
 25

Plessis, C. D. (n.d.). BRAND STORYTELLING: the case of coca cola's journey corporate

website. Retrieved from

https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/com/article/download/1023/1012/1967.

Cheston, A. F. (2016, August 1). Define your personal brand and proceed with confidence.

Ellevate. Retrieved October 2, 2021, from

https://www.ellevatenetwork.com/articles/7442-define-your-personal-brand-and-proceed-

with-confidence

3) Syeda Zoha Fatima (page 13- 18)

Branding Yourself” this term is all about how to become something that is not existed before or

groom your old self to a new self. This is very important for you to brand yourself and dominate

your target niche. Personal branding refers to the method or step through which you can manage

how other people see your abilities, your talents, your accomplishments. A person's personal

brand reflects their skills, abilities, and lifestyle. (Gehl, 2011; Hearn, 2008; Peters, 1997). It is

important to create relationships that lead to opportunities which means in social networking you

will meet the right person (relationship) at the right time (opportunity) and the right place.

(Deckers, E., & Lacy, K.,2017), social media plays its role so beautifully in creating

relationships whether you are online or out in the real world, it helps you to study the small print

of your lives so after you do get together with anyone, you get to pay longer talking about deeper

problems and larger ideas. which is wherever those opportunities are progressing to return from

(Butler and Matook,2015).

 26

Move forward even if you are taking small steps because a small step is also a step forward, as

you won't become famous with just one blog post or one YouTube video. You must make 100

blogs and videos for success.(Patrick J. Kiger,2010) Change doesn't happen overnight. Most

people think that they have to do anything overnight to change some aspect of their life. You

have to wake up the next day as a different person. You need to get rid of "incremental thinking"

and try to make "home runs" in personal development (Can Small Steps Lead to Big Changes?

n.d.) if we talk about why promotion is important, how to promote yourself, and who needs this

promotion. It covers all professions and claims that everybody needs promotion and self-

branding, which is true because self-promotion is not only about getting good jobs and money

but also recognition. It is crucial to stand out from your competitor (Freedman, 2020). As a book

author, you will need the branding to promote your books, writings, same as with musicians,

public speakers, entrepreneurs, salespeople, and job seekers all of them need promotion to get

recognition in the world. Personal branding in social media is the process of taking control of

impressions made in the virtual world (Schau & Gilly, 2003)

The Hero who were trying to redefine themselves and launch their new selves to the world create

a story (Tell Your Professional Story) online allows students to showcase their knowledge, skills

and work experience to show how they have progressed in their career path and why they have

chosen this career. This narrative can then also be used in face-to-face contexts, such as when a

student is interviewed for a job. The capacity to proportion one’s stories, know-how and reviews

may be communicated through many social media sites (Blair, 2015; Brooks & Anumudu,

2015). Allen (influencer) was an account manager for a marketing and advertising agency for 14

years but was fired six months ago after his agency lost its biggest client. Many marketers tend to

be influencers, jumping from company to company but staying in their industry rather than
 27

climbing the corporate ladder. Next up we have Beth, she is a climber because she will change

jobs to move up in her career but will stay in the same industry and even in the same company.

Then we have Carla (Neophyte), a former pharmaceutical saleswoman who was laid off after

eight years in her company. Carla is a newcomer because she is not only changing her job, but

also her industry. In the last one we have, Darrin doesn't see himself as an influencer as he skips

industries every time he skips companies, which makes it harder for him to make a name for

himself in that space. The same level of work no matter where you go, but you can make more

money because there are bigger companies out there that need your expertise (Lacy, 2012).

So, If you know social media but don’t know how to brand yourself and if you are a newbie on

both sides, “Branding Yourself” gives you a noticeably clear steps on how to promote yourself.

Face-to-face and on-line interactions effect different people's perceptions of their brand. Having

proper written and oral verbal exchange competencies and demonstrating know-how in one's

area are keys to growing a sturdy non-public brand.

References

Deckers, E., & Lacy, K. (2017). Branding Yourself: How to Use social media to Invent or

Reinvent Yourself (Que Biz-Tech) (3rd ed.). Que Publishing.

Wetsch, L. R. (2012). A Personal Branding Assignment Using social media. Journal of

Advertising Education, 16(1), 30–36.

Shepherd, I. D. H. (2005). From Cattle and Coke to Charlie: Meeting the Challenge of Self

Marketing and Personal Branding. Journal of Marketing Management, 21(5–6), 589–606.

Can small steps lead to big changes? (n.d.). Quora. Retrieved October 2, 2021, from

https://www.quora.com/Can-small-steps-lead-to-big-changes
 28

4) Sumbal Arooj Raja (Page 19-22)

Books like “Branding Yourself” are worth reading for the individuals interested in getting a new

job or setting their careers and are also highly beneficial for the one who wants to build the

powerful personal brand. For this purpose it is required to grab hottest social media platforms

and ultimately one will get what he urges for. The authors of the book make the readers

understand about the usage of social media helpful in advancing one’s career and developing

business.

The second chapter of this book starts from the concept of storytellers’s promise given by one

the top branding and social media experts (Maresca, J. S, 2021). Storyteller’s refers to the

agreement between author and the reader that the author won’t trick the reader by mentioning

irrelevant information. Instead, the author would stick to the information or the content he

promised to mention in the story. It is mentioned in the chapter that one portion of the Erik’s

story is all about networking and personal branding which actually what storyteller’s promise is.

The author writes that it is very important that story that is being told should not be annoying or

terrible rather it should be good enough to drive memories in the reader’s mind since it plays a

huge part in the world of personal branding. It is further mentioned that every individual is

unique due to their respective stories. These stories are the tool of making personal identities

building overall brand of the individual (Kemp, Childers & Williams, 2012). This chapter is

specifically for guiding and discovering one’s personal brand stories that is one is not forced to

write a book or a journal for their personal stories rather they are free to reveal their personal

identity through a single paragraph only. This chapter is basically about “how you fit in the mix”.
 29

Next it is told about basics of building your personal brand stories. It is mostly heard from

different social media speakers “telling your stories” which sounds much better than “narrating

your personal history”. Narrating one’s story will play a very role in building his personal brand

and will help audience know about the information they never figured out before.

In this chapter the author reveals a lot about writing your personal autobiography. It is mentioned

that autobiographies always start with dash has a story. The personal brand biography is must for

the people who are willing launch their personal brand since it is an overall personal sales pitch

( Alkhas. H, 2018). Personal brand biographies are of three types that is shortest, shorter and

short. These autobiographies are crucial due to reason that they tells the person about what is

important in him, their best skills and their particular passion and most important question that is

answered through autobiographies is what make you you?

Further it is told about what should be prioritized while writing the personal brand story. The

author efficiently writes that the most difficult part of writing the personal brand story is the fact

that one had to reveal oneself. The author is asking the readers not to worry about how to start

autobiography rather they have made easy for the readers to resolve this query by mentioning an

example of one of the authors own autobiography. By reading Kyle’s bio the readers will surely

understand what is good and worst for writing autobiographies. If we take a look in the Kyle’s

autobiography, he initiates by telling how he spend most of his time in training and teaching on

social media strategies. After knowing that Kyle’s book is also launched it won’t be wrong to say

that he is an expert in this respective field. The bio also includes his achievements, his speaking

topics and age.

Thus, the chapter explains storyteller’s promise very well and contains very beneficial

information regarding personal brand story and autobiographies which proves to be very fruitful
 30

for the readers who want to establish their personal brands and make their business successful

through social media.

References

Maresca, J., Dye, S., & Li, N. (2021). Auto-identification of unphysical source reconstructions in

strong gravitational lens modelling. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical

Society, 503(2), 2229-2241.

Kemp, E., Childers, C. Y., & Williams, K. H. (2012). Place branding: creating self‐brand

connections and brand advocacy. Journal of Product & Brand Management.

Alkhas, H. (2018). The art of storytelling: Top 5 do’s and don’ts of creating your brand’s story.

A Personal Organizer. Retrieved from https://apersonalorganizer.com/the-art-of-

storytelling-top-5-dos-and-donts-of-creating-your-brands-story/

5) Sadia Javed (Page 23-27)

This is the review of “Branding yourself". This book is all about how to use social media to

invent and revent you. In this book we know about how we make our pitch and it also have a lot

of tips for interview. the author Eric Deckers and kyle Macy advice others how to use social

media for work and for our targeted niches.Tufecki (2008) says that In this time, adults don’t

understand the impact of negative information on their futures and a HR-departments use social

media for review their candidates for job.

In this book we discuss about the three different distinct of biographies and how to avail it. Every

biography no matter it is short, shortest but it has its own value. If you have on a networking
 31

brand, it takes five seconds to reach the aim. in the world of building our personal brand, every

biography has its own value and place. It is a 30 seconds speech in which we explain who we are

and which products we want to trade. James (2009) says that start with purpose statements, aims,

key-points and you principle. The statement of purpose helps to act a filter for your decisions and

also help in guide to what you want to do.

The main issue is they took 25 seconds too long and if we catch 30 seconds to express our self,

they lose their interest. When we introduces, we have must take one or two sentences to tell

about our expectations and why we doing this. And if we notice, we gain the interest of other

person, we continue with the longer pitch. Thomson (2014) states that we took less than 390

milliseconds to make an impression of other people, i will be good or worst based on their voices

or their personalities.

We should practice to present the shortest version of our pitch. For instance, we are just a normal

news reporter which is interested in PR field. When we write our bio, just remember the key

points rather than the whole story word by word. in this book we understand some good points

which help in our pitch. Like how we professionally introduce our self, what are we work in our

past, it has strong impact. How can we tell about experiences, how we listed our skills, how write

our resume like someone other explain us. How important to update our resume and portfolio

with time to time. Every personal brand reflects the desires and expectations to meet the

customer needs and expectations at the same time (McNally and Speak ,2002).

References:
 32

James, B. 2009. “The Value of Personal Branding.” The Gallup Management Journal. Accessed

March 26, 2014. http://businessjournal.gallup.com/content/121796/Value-Personal-

Branding.aspx

Thomson, H. 2014. “Your Voice Betrays your Personality in a Split Second.” Accessed March

17, 2014. newscientist.com.

McNally, D., and K. D. Speak. 2002. Be your Own Brand. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.

6) Hira Anjum (Page 28- 30)

Branding Yourself by Erik Deckers and Kyle Lacy shows how to create your biography,

platforms to share information, and story tellings of your personal brand (Maresca, J. S, 2021).

Other thing they have talk about how to build your personal brand biography. They mentioned

some guidelines for those who do not like to write. These points help you to make your story of

personal brand. According to them, firstly you have to define yourself. And what’s your

background to be as a brand and in what you are best and talk confidently ( Hopkins, A.J, 2018).

Then you have to mention that how you will help them as a brand. The most important factor of

personal branding is creating emotional attachments by telling stories to your target audience.

This will make you unique and real ( Hopkins, A.J, 2018).

In this book, Erik Decker and Kyle Lacy mentioned some basic rules that should follow by

everyone who use social media. It is the most essential part of this chapter. For raising your

personal brand, this will help you efficiently. Basically, in this section you learn how to share

your brand via social media. Like, only share those images that support you professionally as

storytelling, and try not to post those pictures that your mom feels awkward by seeing these.
 33

Don’t make sales pitch of your stories. Your customers will trust you more if you do not make

sales pitch of stories but create conversation of your personal brand ( Alkhas. H, 2018). Be

attentive for what are you posting on social media because everyone is active on these platforms

and continuously receiving information and saving these posts. Your audience will be more

engaged and connected when you will tell true stories about your personal brand.

They also said that when you are raising your personal brand, there are two sides of it. First is to

help other people, and then to help yourself. Be attentive during your storytelling of your

personal brand. If you are facing distractions, then refocus on your aim and work on your

effectiveness. This will lead you towards your goal. Don’t underrate the importance of your

networking. If you need any type help you can post this on social media and discuss your

problems with others and look for your answers (Alkhas. H, 2018). To enhance your

understanding, you should talk about it on social media and search other aspects of it. And also

do favor others; in return, they will approach you for investment of their time and money. Be in

touch with your networking for raising your personal brand. And they mentioned last one rule

that is about to make time for yourself. Work on yourself.

This book is easily available on internet and give simple ideas of how to branding yourself and

how to use social media as a story telling platform.

Reference:

Alkhas, H. (2018). The art of storytelling: Top 5 do’s and don’ts of creating your brand’s story.

A Personal Organizer. Retrieved from https://apersonalorganizer.com/the-art-of-

storytelling-top-5-dos-and-donts-of-creating-your-brands-story/
 34

Hopkins, A. J. (n.d.). 4 stress-free tips for writing your own bio. The Muse. Retrieved from

https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-stressfree-tips-for-writing-your-own-bio

Maresca, J. S. (2021). Book review: Branding yourself by Erik Deckers and Kyle Lacy. Settlepi.

Retrieved from https://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/Book-Review-

Branding-Yourself-by-Erik-Deckers-3700268.php

Assignment 2
 35

ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN RELIGIOUS TOURISM IN PAKISTAN

1) Areena Laraib

Introduction

Pakistan is considered as one of the most beautiful and sacred tourist destinations globally.

Emerging as the potential tourist internationally, Pakistan tourist sites have played important

role. As per the statistics of “Travel and Tourism competitiveness Report” published in 2017,

328.3 million U.S GDP have been raised by religious tourism in Pakistan in year 2015, increased

further by 7.6 billion U.S dollars in 2016. For whole, the tourism has contributed to 2.8% of total

GDP, and created 3,894,000 jobs in year 2017 (Aftab & Khan, 2019)

Role of social media in religious tourism

Social media play very significant role in attracting the religious or recreational tourism in

Pakistan. Online communities made on social media share content, and interest related to

different sites, allow the user interactions. Social media offers many ways of interactions with

global communities, such as chat and video call features, blogging and vlogging. The social

media also allows the promotion of tourism by facilitating social networks, and by the

advertising system for carrying out economic activities (Zeng & Gerritsen, 2014).

As stated by Aftab & Khan (2019), the E-WOM (electronic word of mouth) is the new era of

tourism, by which the tourists of 21st century can be attracted for recreational and religious

tourism. The traditional publicity was limited, yet the online publicity and e-WOM are most

important tool recently to promote tourism. The landscape of tourism by social media is

transformed. For visiting the religious sites by domestic and foreign travellers, the travel plans

are promoted and determined relaying on the social media shares and reviews (Cristea, Mihaela-
 36

Simona, & Dosescu, 2015). Thus, social media can play very crucial role in increasing religious

tourism.

Potential of religious tourism in Pakistan

There is high potential of religious tourism in Pakistan due to major Buddhist and Sikhism

sacred sites in Pakistan. As per the “Tourism Development Corporation of Pakistan (TDCP)”

within Punjab, there are around 480 sites that can attract good audience of Buddhist religious

tourist. There are around 120 religious sites and 26 of both religious and historical sites in

Pakistan which are considered very important. Stated by Irfan & Ali, (2020) one average, if one

person spends 200 Rupees, the revenue that can be generated through the domestic visits at

religious sites of Pakistan can reach up to Rs54 billion per year. Due to these Buddhist religious

tourism, Punjab alone can generate “three- to four-fold increase” from the religious tourism

(Khan, Zaman, & Baloch, 2019). As stated by Irfan & Ali, (2020) social media can be used to

promote the religious tourism by content sharing and the number of religious pilgrims in

Pakistan each year can be increased a lot. As per the data, there are eight million diaspora Sikhs

who are interested to visits Pakistan as religious pilgrim. Yet the actual visits are lesser, and this

market gap can be covered by social media WOM and reviews, vlogging and content sharing.

International tourists are now increasingly relying on the social media for ways of interaction,

and communication along with information. As in Pakistan, the religious tourism potential is

very high which can contribute to the economy and GDP of country. With the evolving pace of

world, the traditional ways of communication behaviour, marketing, messaging and advertising

have been changed. Pakistan can increase the tourism and attract religious tourist by adoption of

smart tactics of marketing using various social media sites.

 37

References:

Aftab, S., & Khan, M. M. (2019). Role of social media in promoting tourism in Pakistan. Journal

of Social Sciences and Humanities, 58(1), 101-113..

Cristea, A., Mihaela-Simona, A & Dosescu, T. (2015). The Role of media in Promoting

Religious Tourism in Romania. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences. 188.

10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.03.398.

Irfan, E., & Ali, Y. (2020, November). Religious tourism in Pakistan: Scope, obstacles &

strategies. In Journal of Convention & Event Tourism (Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 134-154).

Routledge

Khan, A. U., Zaman, G., & Baloch, Q. B. (2019). Promoting Religious Tourism in Pakistan:

Empirical Evidence from Sikh Pilgrims Visiting Pakistan. City University Research

Journal, 9(4), 805-818.

Zeng, B., & Gerritsen, R. (2014). What do we know about social media in tourism? A review.

Tourism management perspectives, 10, 27-36.

2) Syeda Zoha Fatima

Pakistan has been ranked among the top ten potential tourist destinations in the world and social

media plays a leading role in promoting and advertising tourism in Pakistan. According to the

Pakistan tourism stats, 1.9 million tourists visited Pakistan, and the rate of tourism is increased

by 300% (Pakistan Tourism Statistics 1995–2021). Social media is in high demand because it is

playing a significant role in attracting visitors whether they are near or far, spread positivity for
 38

their country, and conveying information because using social media has become a daily part of

life and it is very convenient for everyone to read any information on social media. (Teixeira Da

Silva, 2017) Thanks to its ease of use it is rapidly growing to change the mindset of people, it

established new agendas and trends in public (Asur and Huberman, 2010). According to the

report in recent years, there have been remarkable results with the satisfaction of tourists after

introducing social media in the field of tourism in Pakistan.

Social Media in the tourism market:

Tourists usually use social media to get information about their trip and by posting pictures and

comments of their trip. According to a report, almost 3 million pictures are uploaded to

Instagram, Twitter, and other social sites (Bodnar,2010). Social media allows people to share

photos, videos that promote the beauty of the country and tourism market taking advantage of

this power of social media, moreover it is helping in hospitality to engage with more guests

(Wang & Fesenmaier, 2004). Tourism organizations are getting more successful by using

different techniques to gain the trust of their customers which results in increased sales and

promotion. The information which is shared on social media provides great insight to tourists

because the information shared on social media is more accurate than the information shared by

any tourist agent (Chung & Buhalis,2008).

Buddhist Tourism:

Greetings, visits to places considered sacred by Islam, Christianity, or any other religion are

called "religious tourism" or "faith tourism" in English (Religious and Pilgrimage Tourism

International, 2012, para. 1). First of all we talk about the religion Buddhism so the people from
 39

this religion follows their buddha and his teachings. In Pakistan there are many sites of Buddhists

at Takht e Bahi , Peshawar, Swat and Taxila.

In the current scenario, the world is full of misconceptions about Islam and as Muslims, it’s our

duty to explain the right side of religion and what is the wrong side of religion according to the

world. So social media plays a major role in promoting Islam and defaming people who write

wrong about Islam, through this promotion people from different religions. This will make

people curious to see the historical places, The real purpose of religion is to promote it, so social

media has become a very easy tool for this task not only for Islam every religion tries to promote

the positive side of their religion. Before social media, the number of people visiting Islamic

places was low but according to The Association Sharia Hotels and Restaurants growth of

Muslim tourists in increased through social media promotion. The number of tourists in Pakistan

continued to increase in 2015 ( Fatimah, 2015).

Pakistan is only 70 years old but it a room for the world’s three major religions i.e. Buddhism,

Islam and Sikhism. As reported in 2013 about 20 Buddhists traveled to the monastery of Takht e

Bahi. Due to which other people also get attracted and that’s why the rate of Buddhist tourists

increasing day by day. This will lead to greater exploitation of existing Hindu, Buddhist, and

Sikh religious resources. In the long run, Pakistan's economy will definitely benefit from an

established tourism industry (Shunnaq, 2010).

Pakistan is a Islamic country but still it has absorbed the cultural heritage and monument of

many religions, which makes it different from other countries and every year many people visits

their holy sites (Irfan & Ali, 2020).

Sites of Buddhism In Pakistan

 40

There are many sites of Buddhism scattered among Pakistan (Amstutz, 2019).

1) Takht e Bahi: It is considered a paleontological site

for many Buddhists (Smith, 2014), it is situated in

Khyber –Pakhtunkhwa this site is still well preserved

in Pakistan. Takht e Bahir is listed in UNESCO World

Heritage List in 1980 as the largest Buddhist

archaeological site.

2) Taxila It is considered as the first stop for Buddhist

tourists Dharmarajika Stupa, one of the eight largest stupas

in south Asia (Dharmarajika Stupa | Stupa, Taxila,

Pakistan, n.d.) the Votive Stupa, Shinggardar Stupa, the

Amluk Dara Supa situated in Taxila, all are located in

Taxila.

3) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. After many years old statue of a

sleeping body was discovered which is considered a major

Buddhist heritage site in Pakistan (Ali, 2020).

4) Tope Mankiala Is a famous site in Punjab Pakistan, It is

famous because the lord of the Buddhist religion fed the seven

hungry lions with his body parts at this place.

 41

5) Katas Raj It is a famous stupa that is a doomed shaped shrine of Buddhists The Temple

complex has 7 Mandirs. Pakistan Government is now

considering nominating Katas raj Temple Complex for
World Heritage Status.

6) Mingora It is also famous because of many stupas are

there Shingardar Stupa, Amaan Kot, and Jehan-a-Abad.

7) Swat: It contains many stupas and cravings of

Buddhists, In earlier studies, it is reported as Swat was
considered as a home of the Gandhara school of
sculpture, However, there are many stupas, monasteries
,and caves present in Swat (Bochkovskaya,2002).

References

Pakistan Tourism Statistics 1995–2021. (2021). MacroTrends.

https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/PAK/pakistan/tourism-statistics

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3) Nissa Iqbal Malik

Religious Tourism

Trips that cover the sites considered sacred by Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, and any other

religion is called religious tourism. It is not only limited to sacred holy places like pilgrimage but

also considers religious festivals, or meetings or other religious celebrations which are all

included in the scope of religious tourism. According to the statistics given by United Nations

World Trade Organization, it is reported that approximately 600 million tourists globally travel

each year for religious purposes (Tourism, Trade, and the WTO, 2018).

Religious significance of Pakistan

Pakistan holds a significant number of religious tourist sites that can be used as an advantage for

the tourist industry (Baloch, 2006). The 1947 partition between Pakistan and India led Pakistan

to inherit sites of religious and spiritual significance to Buddhists, Sikhs, and Hindus. The

religious significance to Hindus includes their heritage sites and temples including temples of
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Shri Hinglaj Mata in Baluchistan (Xafar, 2016), temple of Shri Ramdev Pir in Tando Allahyar

(Rana, 2012), Shiv Mandir in Umarkot (Kalhoro, 2018), Churrio Jabal temple of Durga Mata in

the Tharparker District (Iqbal, 2011) and Darga Pir Ratan Nath, Kalibari Mandir and Goraknath

temples in Peshawar (Qalandar, 2015).The religious significance for Buddhist includes their

religious and heritage sites including Takht-i-Bahi near Mardan, ancient civilization of Taxila,

temple runs in Mingora and several other monasteries, temples and religious statues all residing

across Swat (Meister, 2010, AFP, 2013).The religious significance to Sikhs includes their

temples such as Gurdwaras which are abundantly found in various locations of Pakistan such as

the province of Punjab including Lahore which is a hub of Gurdwaras and Sindh (Singh, 2019).

Challenges faced by tourism in Pakistan

A 2017 study conducted on tourism in Pakistan reported that 81% travelling in Pakistan is for the

purpose of leisure while the remaining 19% is for the purpose of business (WTTC, 2018).

However, in report there was no mention of tourism for religious purpose despite of its high

existential significance in the country which means leisure and business were the only main

source of income for Pakistan (Haq & Jackson, 2007).

Another report by (Arshad et al., 2017) points out the major hurdles to tourism faced by Pakistan

and includes

 Broken or lack of proper infrastructure for tourism

 Safety and security issues for tourists

 Negative portrayal and lack of counteractive marketing or advertising

 Lack of investments by the private sector

 Visa procurement issues

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 Little or no IT incorporation

 Lack of federal tourism infrastructure

 Less or no importance to tourist sector or its facilities

Apart from these issues the current issue relies on the false portrayal of Pakistan in the western

news media that has not been favorable for us, leading to building a negative image of the

country globally and perception of an unsafe country to travel (BBC Country Rating Poll, 2011).

According to a poll conducted by BBC, Pakistan was ranked amongst the third most poorly rated

country following Israel (BBC World Service Poll, 2007). This false image has been nothing but

a result of biasedness, lack of awareness and knowledge, and certain narrative shaped by the

mainstream media globally (Y. Fan & A. Shahani, 2014).

Role of social media in increasing tourism in Pakistan

Over the years, a drastic increase has been noticed prior to the usage of social media platform

which is intended to exceed 3.2 billion users by the end of 2021 as compared to 1.22 billion

online users in 2011 (Statista, 2019). Social media has commendably influenced every

individual’s life in different ways especially when it comes to purchasing decision making. (Xia

Wang et al, 2011).

In a study conducted in 2019, 79.7% of the respondents residing in Pakistan agreed using social

media in their travel planning (Aftab, 2019). In other outcomes of this study, 73.2% of the

respondents basically admitted that using social media helped them in deciding a tourist spot

they intended to visit so social media serves to be a first preference of tourists when choosing or

planning a travel trip to somewhere. Another advantage of social media is the content posted by

other users that helps in tourist decision making. (Bradr, 2014).

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Solutions for increasing religious tourism in Pakistan using social media

Following solutions can be suggested for increasing religious tourism with the help of social

media tool

Short Film Competition featuring Buddhist Ancestral and Religious Sites

Government can initiate campaigns using prize money to recruit student film makers from all

over the country to create short films or series featuring ancestral and religious sites. The concept

of product placement is a more powerful tool than advertisement since it plays into our

subconscious mind and people are more naturally attracted to something which is not being

solicited to them but however, has value and is associated with something, which is perceived to

be trending. Therefore, by using elements of Buddhist tourist sites within short films this would

not only introduce sites to the viewers but also create an imagery of being a hotspot and would

give bragging rides to the travelers visiting such sites

Travel Reviews and Blogging/Vlogging

Research from google in year 2010, found out that 87% of the travelers used internet as a

planning resource for their tourist destination (Torres, 2010). However, with significant increase

in today’s time due to increased usage of internet and social media among the users it has

become a widespread practice among travelers. Daniel Leung states in his research that social

media has been widely adopted by the traveler audience to search, organize, share, and annotate

their travel stories and experiences through their blogs (Leung et al, 2013). By making it a

common practice among the traveler’s it will help to benefit country’s economy and promote

religious tourism in the country while allowing more and more religious followers to visit their

respective religious heritage or temples residing in Pakistan.

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With the online research of 4600 respondents across continents Europe, US, and Asia, revealed

that 44% of the users strongly agreed the direct influence of reviews, given by a travel blogger

helped them to shape their initial travel planning followed by 37% online forums and 27%

Facebook (Text100, 2012). According to another study by (SocialMedia Today, 2015), 48% of

the tourists use Instagram as their tool guide in deciding new travelling destinations, as

Instagram is mainly used for its purpose of pictures and videos and is a great app to help travel

bloggers display their work and influence the audience through it. Another emerging trend on

social media is Vlogging which is known to produce video formatted travelling content such as

Vloggers like “Ukhano” and “Being a traveler starring Bilal Azam”. These Vloggers attract 48%

subscriptions on YouTube, and this is another great way to attract tourists internationally

(WERSM, 2017).

Propagation of Pakistan’s Buddhist Historical Remains

Another important component is the propagation of Buddhist historical remains within the

country that will help to connect with international tourists through either utilizing tourist guides,

campaigns, social media, internet, events, tv shows, advertisements, promotions, preparation of

documentaries, brochures, blogs, or their official accounts on social media platform. By focusing

on the top Buddhist populated nations, special events and seminars should be held on Buddhist

pilgrimage and tourism in Pakistan while additionally also inviting the press, media travel and

travel operators. Special religious festivals should be arranged with presentations on Buddhist

heritage, history and details of important places and sites that could be facilitated. Brochures or

special promotion tours must be prepared, and this could all be promoted or endorsed using

social media platforms to attract tourists worldwide.

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References

Religious tourism in Pakistan: Scope, obstacles and strategies. (n.d.). Retrieved October 15,

2021, from

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346714671_Religious_tourism_in_Pakistan_Sc

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The social media factor in the development and promotion of religious tourism - researchgate.

(n.d.). Retrieved October 15, 2021, from

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DailyTimes.pk. (2019, July 17). Pakistan Tourism Development Plan for Buddhist pilgrimage.

Daily Times. Retrieved October 15, 2021, from

https://dailytimes.com.pk/431235/pakistan-tourism-development-plan-for-buddhist-

pilgrimage/amp/.

4) Sumbal Arooj Raja

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