Minister is right, social media can be a powerful tool

THE letter titled Use social media for promotion (The National, Oct 31) and the speech by Petroleum Minister Nixon Duban prompted me to respond.
Social media, particularly facebook can become an invaluable social information service.
It can be one of the key marketing and promotional tools for private companies, government and non-government organisations and civil society groups. The minister raised concern that most of our citizens do not use social media appropriately, especially when posting and commenting on national issues.
This is very true in PNG where people are not seeing the black side of facebook including its uses. We seem to misunderstand the true use of facebook in the social and even political and religious context.
Social media can be one of the key technologies in promoting and marketing organisations.
However, many young people do not utilise social media as a learning tool.
By definition, facebook is an online website that has no user control.
It is the free online website that can be utilised as one of the information sharing centre where individual and organisations can use without paying the domain and URL fees to promote their products, organisations and even to do recruitment, awareness and settling conflict and issues basing on thousands of analysis and discussions online.
All you need to do is to pay for the internet fees to access your account.
Moreover, social media sites like facebook can be very helpful if used for economic and development purposes.

Sky Bobeng
Waigani, NCD