“How do we stop a user from writing and commenting bad things about the department and the government?”
This was first question asked at a one-day orientation programme for officials of the departments of Government of Telangana with Facebook. Public policy manager, South Asia, of Facebook Nitin Saluja gave three options: hide the message, delete it or report it.
Putting it in numbers, Mr. Saluja explained how it is not just one organisations but a clutch of apps that reach out to people every day: 1.6 billion on Facebook, 1.5 billion on Whatsapp, 500 million on Instagram.
The orientation programme was aimed at officials in government departments like Electricity, Metro Water and GHMC, among others who have to deal with citizens directly and have to put across the policies of the government.
“This is one of the tools to reach out to the largest number of people. And language is no barrier. Nearly, 80-85 per cent of the population has access to phones. People may not have access to safe drinking water, roads or electricity but they will have a cellphone which will have Facebook and Whatsapp,” said Commissioner Information and Public Relations Navin Mittal.
But Mr. Mittal cautioned the government officials about communication that is not thought through: “Each of the social media messages that you send out is like an arrow. You cannot call it back. So be careful while framing your words.”
“Today, the first thing people ask when they go anywhere is: ‘Where’s the WiFi hotspot? What’s the password?’ The Internet has become part of our life. Information is the new property. If you have information you are important. But this information should be used to benefit people,” said Chief Public Relations Officer of Chief Minister’s Office Jwala Narasimha Rao.
Sharing an anecdote of life changing role that social media can have Director of digital media cell of IT Department Dileep Kontham said: “We received a message from a young boy who was wheelchair bound as he had muscular dystrophy. He sent a small message to the Chief Minister wanting to know if the government can do something about it. Immediately, we verified his case and now the boy is getting a monthly pension.”
