Government major player on social media

Over the past two years, the Modi government has developed strong assets in the virtual world, making it one of the prominent influencers on the social media.

With Union information and broadcasting ministry as a key player, the government has aggressively promoted its social welfare schemes on different social media platforms. Sources said with over one million followers of Press Information Bureau, about eight lakh of the ministry website and over one million each of the national broadcasters, Doordarshan and All India Radio, the ministry has emerged as one of the strongest influencing voices of the government on the Internet.

They added that with huge following, the ministry not only is capable of generating trends but also of culling any rumour mongering. “This becomes possible when all these handles start a conversation amongst themselves with a common hashtag,” an expert social media operative for the government said.

The government has already strained senior officials from various ministries in the utilisation of the social media in crisis management. “And handles operated by each individual minitry and department are an add-on bonus as far as the government assets on the social media are concerned,” the expert stated.

Various ministries and departments have been instructed to “ensure a two-way interaction is established on these platforms with quick response mechanism in place.”

It is understood that the training is a part of government strategy for better utilisation of these platforms for dissemination of information, a point often emphasised upon by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

As per the new media engagement policy, the government has completely overhauled the system through which it interacts with the common man and the media.

The need for training on the use of social media was felt as the government understood that it is a cheap and effective means of reaching out to people.

With the mobile density in India amongst the highest in the world, and the proliferation of smart mobile phones, the connectivity of an average citizen to social media platforms has also increased.