DailyPost 2932
GOVERNANCE – THE SOCIAL MEDIA WAY
While the governance has moved on social media, social media remains unregulated in its own right. If perception is to be built this is the medium and has been a late realisation for some, but for sure, but today it has become the DNA of all governments and political parties. That explains the huge amount of resource mobilisation for the purpose, financial and otherwise. There is general consensus amongst all, that it’s mainly the perception that matters with social media being the ideal tool. Quite strangely, the powers that be are not interested in actual work, positive perception needs to be created and that should get translated into votes.
X has become the media of choice and all communications necessarily need to happen on this platform. The news breaks out there and then spreads all around the place. The personal handles and official handles keep vying for the eyeball they are looking for, making right communication of governance a tall order. In the first place, is it even necessary to publish in this manner? The work of the government is all pervasive and impact making, leaving aside getting to know it,, people would experience the change. Such a person would vouch for the party and government that made a positive impact on his life.
While other media are ephemeral so to say, social remains with you all the time and the person is at liberty to get back to message / document / video at any point of time. The dissemination is so cheap and fast, and reaches your intended target, right in his hand to play to ears and eyes and make an impact on his mind. We have reached a point that the news in social media needs to be picked up by mainstream media for its survival. Every political party has an IT Cell, whose job is to create social media content about literally anything and everything. If the hype becomes all pervasive and seems to be getting traction, they are successful.
They also keep on perfecting their art on a regular basis; tools, language, focus etc. They have taken upon themselves the task of defending the government, while the governments are also leaving no stone unturned in the social media space to be seen, to be on the right foot, all the time. To add might to the government’s decisions, thought process and policy declarations, there are troll armies which amplify the impact and also work as a rogue gang to silence the detractors. The social media enabled mess of governance has diluted the clarity of government communication and stands to a level that it becomes next to impossible to differentiate between party, government, social media IT cells, trolls and what not?
SOCIAL MEDIA GOVERNANCE IS THE DENIGRATION OF GOVERNANCE ITSELF.
Sanjay Sahay
Have a nice evening.