As the 2011 World Economic Forum starts today in Davos, Switzerland, there are abundant ways in which interested public can follow the activity via various different social media. In fact, the Forum has introduced a 'Social Media Corner' in the congress centre, to "serve as the central social hub to reach out to the general public to discuss a range of topics."

The Social Media Corner includes a Facebook station, and will stream live interviews with participants on its Facebook page. Facebook will also be used to "tap into the collective wisdom of the online population" through the use of quick Facebook polls, or 'pulses,' which in some sessions will be fed back into the panel discussion.

The Forum has taken questions via YouTube as part of its Ask a Leader initiative and will put a selection of the top-voted questions to world leaders at the WEF Annual Meeting, in a dedicated YouTube booth. Also through YouTube, the Forum selected a video blogger from its Davos Debates competition to participate at the meeting.

As well as via the WEF's Twitter accounts @Davos and @WEF, the public can track what's going on by searching the hashtag #WEF, of by following the official Twitter list which includes 400 participants. A Twitter list of journalists covering the meeting is also available.

The Forum will release photos on Flickr, and a number of reports on Scribd.

iPhone and Android apps provide news from guest bloggers at the Forum, from the official Twitter accounts and collects news reports about the event from news organisations around the world. It also displays photos and videos and allows users to buy publications.

The considerable effort put into making the annual event more directly accessible to the public means that if they are online, there is less incentive for people to follow the Forum via traditional media. Improved transparency and accessibility is a positive step, but does it mean that some might miss the insight that experienced journalists can provide? It is likely that this situation will become more and more common at major events, how can news organisations ensure that they stay relevant?

Source: World Economic Forum