Congress Gets Snappier By Using Social Media To Reach Out
New Delhi: Getting snappy with quick responses on Twitter and Facebook to social media criticism is likely to be part of the Congress party's new outreach strategy, according to a party report being drafted.
Most leaders of the ruling Congress, including newly-appointed party Vice President Rahul Gandhi, is not into tweeting or posting updates on Facebook - the tool of the new generation. Online criticism of the party and the government is generally not responded to. But this is likely to change.
"We need a system to spot trends (on social media) and respond to them so that the views of the opposition do not influence the people," Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh, who heads the sub-group, told IANS.
The sub-group was formed last month after the country saw youth-driven flash mob protests demanding strong laws to curb corruption and crimes against women, jolting both the party and the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government.
The group was set up after it realized the growing role of online platforms in influencing public opinion. The group is expected to submit its draft report to Rahul Gandhi soon.
Rahul Gandhi has 117,685 followers on Twitter, but has posted only 15 tweets so far. His Twitter account is protected. Digvijaya Singh is more tweet savvy. He has over 42,000 followers on the social network and has posted over 1,000 tweets. Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari's twitter account is protected as well. Milind Deora is also a tweeter, with over 1,145 tweets and more than 52,000 followers.
Congress sources said the party must gear up to face the growing influence of social media in creating public opinion and the participation of youth in it.
The government admitted it was not fully prepared to deal with flash mobs, which gathered at huge numbers at India Gate and then sustained a more than one-month-long protest at Jantar Mantar.
The sustained protests by students to demand stronger rape laws were due to the social media. Many invited friends through Facebook and Twitter to join in the protests.
The Congress feels the time has come to plan a strategy to be able to communicate with the net-savvy younger generation.
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had said: "Flash mob is a new phenomenon... sometimes they gather to dance and sing, but sometimes they can gather to protest also... we need to take note of it... I don't think we are fully prepared to deal with it... we need to devise SOPs (standard operating procedures)."
