Use of Digital Media Platforms as an Alternative Means of Livelihood among Mizo Women

Abstract

The advent of digital media platforms and user-generated content has spurred the growth of digital businesses across India, including Mizoram. While platforms like YouTube provide women opportunities to monetize domestic work by transforming it into content, Instagram and other social media/messaging apps enable women to establish and manage their own online businesses. In this context, this study aims to comprehensively examine the potential and challenges of digital media platforms as alternative livelihood sources for Mizo women.
Adopting an innovative approach to address gaps in digital media access and usage, the research strategy is based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, tailored to the study’s specific objectives. The study draws on multiple theoretical frameworks, including Feminist Economics, Platform Economy Theory, and the Diffusion of Innovation, to analyze digital media’s role as an alternative livelihood for Mizo women.
As digital media emerges as a powerful tool for women’s economic empowerment—reshaping traditional gender roles, fostering entrepreneurship, and creating pathways to financial independence—localized training in the Mizo dialect and culturally contextualized approaches are essential to accelerating digital media adoption among Mizo women.
This study is part of the ICSSR sponsored major project 2023-24 titled “Accelerating Women Entrepreneurship in Mizoram: Toward Digital Empowerment for Alternative Livelihood, Self-Reliance and Gender Equality”