Durban University of Technology’s Urban Futures Centre recently hosted a seminar where Professor Radhamany Sooryamoorthy presented on his book called the Networks of Communication in South Africa. The seminar was held at Steve Biko Campus Science block at the UFC offices.

Radhamany Sooryamoorthy is a professor of Sociology and an Acting Dean and HOS of the School of Social Sciences at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban. His current research interests lie in the areas of electronic communication and scientific collaboration. His previous books include Science in Participatory Development (co-author, Zed Books 1994) and NGOs in India (co-author, Greenwood 2001), Transforming Science in South Africa (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), and Sociology in South Africa (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016).

Prof Sooryamoorthy added that within a short period of time, South Africa had made remarkable progress in the adoption of mobile and internet technologies. In his landmark study, he examines the development of communication patterns, social contacts and networks in South Africa. Based on pioneering quantitative and qualitative data, he also analysed trends in changing media use in Africa, showing the development of the use of new media for communication by South Africans of all ages, races and genders in relation to the development of media infrastructure, its cost and government policy. “It shows how people use the media for communication purposes that affirm or break their social contacts and networks, and how they apply media to establish, re-establish or maintain social relationships. This book will be of interest to those researching the growth of communication technology in Africa, as well as those involved in the wider fields of development studies and economics,” he added.
In his book, Sooryamoorthy talks about the media, old and new as well as the uses, trends and patterns of media use in South Africa, media communication and social networks, new media and the new worlds of communication, to name but a few.

The presentation was followed by a round table discussion where everyone got to share their experiences with different uses of media and social media and how society has changed because of these developments.
Sooryamoorthy’s book is available at www.cambridge.org/9781107185630.

Pictured: Prof Sooryamoorthy, at the presentation.

Sthabile Gwala