Social media in India is having a “democratising effect on government and institutions,” said Macon Phillips, coordinator in the Bureau of International Information Programs, who earlier served as special assistant to U.S. President Barack Obama and as director of digital strategy in the White House.
Amid the high-octane debate on Net neutrality, Mr. Phillips said here on Wednesday that the use of social media platforms by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Obama was lending maturity to the medium.
“The PM [Mr. Modi] is making use of Twitter for more than just sharing pictures of food. Oftentimes, social media is trivialised, it is the genuine embrace of this medium by leaders who are defining our world that legitimises it, and it is not just good for those leaders but everyone who is using it to talk about serious issues. As someone who has been in the White House, I can tell you people are not afraid to show opinion and they take to social media to do that,” he told The Hindu .
Mr. Philips, who is in India to meet business leaders and digital influencers to discuss issues of climate change, sustainability efforts, and entrepreneurship, said the U.S. was looking at deepening ties with India on a host of issues, including cyber security and climate change.
“In adolescent phase”While he described the Indian government’s use of social media as being in its “adolescent phase,” he said, institutions around the world have to learn to adapt and be prepared for an audience that seeks answers in real time.
“The use of social media is in an adolescent phase; sometimes awkward, sometimes energetic, sometimes incorrect, but it is learning and growing into its own idea. We are on the cusp of a mature space and that is being driven by Mr. Modi and his personal embrace of this medium as well as by Mr. Obama,” he said.
Referring to a “rapidly changing media landscape,” he said it was imperative that institutions adapt to make sure that they were accessible in policy positions and information.
“Social media has increased the pace of public engagement and news and that is creating stress on the system of large institutions like government departments to adapt. As we see in world events things happen in minutes, so we have to be prepared all the more and make sure we are aware of what the conversations are and are ready to address the problems,” he explained.
SimilaritiesOn Mr. Modi’s much-publicised social media campaign before the general elections in 2014, he said the campaign had been an inspiring one to Americans in terms of not just his personal story, but how he had used technology.
“As someone who was part of the Obama campaign, it is easy to see the similarities. One similarity to underscore is that both these men have an ethic about community engagement that was developed long before the Internet. In case of President Obama, he was a community organiser, when he could have a number of other jobs, he chose to walk around neighbourhoods and knock on doors and help people to organise and change and address problems. Social media helped him do that at much greater scale.”
