A Study on Social Media and Crowd Funding in India

Abstract

Internet & Communication Technologies have redefined the way people across the world can communicate and interact. Social networking an offshoot of this revolution has made the world look like a global village, social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest etc., is enabling people to connect with each like never before. Geographical borders no longer act as barriers in communication. With millions of people logging on to these social media sites, investors, business and entrepreneurs also are looking at these media with great interest and enthusiasm. Growth of social media has fuelled entrepreneurial activity. Today the crowd funding is a reality, entrepreneurs with innovative projects can look for alternate funding sources other than traditional sources. Crowding funding is the use of Internet in which people can present their projects on a website to attract funding from a large group of people. In countries like USA where this concept has gained prominence Internet &social media is playing an intermediary role between the entrepreneurs seeking funds for his/her projects and people interested in investing in those projects instead of looking for venture capitalists elsewhere. Social media networking which is vibrant even in India can play a significant role in crowd funding of projects of aspiring entrepreneurs. The present paper attempts to explore the status of this relationship between social media and crowdfunding in India