Last year, the Public Diplomacy division of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) began an experiment. Joint Secretary Navdeep Suri describes his motives thus: “It was partly recognition that most of the work we were doing was, subconsciously, aimed at ‘People Like Us’. Whether it’s India or elsewhere, when you’ve got an under-30 generation that is 60 percent of the demographic, and they’re the Internet-literate influencers of tomorrow, you need to reach out in their space. Secondly, we see social media not just as a tool for disseminating information; it is also valuable for getting feedback, listening, engaging with people, so that a relationship is built. Thirdly, to see whether we can create a space for narratives about the good work India does overseas — India’s ‘soft power.’”
He approached the Department of Information Technology, and got funding under its Innovative IT Projects scheme for a pilot project to see how his division could use social media to improve interaction with citizens. Since then Suri, with Abhay Kumar, Under Secretary at the MEA, have set up Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts, and a new public diplomacy Web site. It has been a steady process of building, listening and learning. Most of it not in the media glare.
Until, that is, the events of the Middle East and the Jasmine revolutions, in which social media played a small, but visible part. That was also when Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, who had been, Suri says, hugely supportive all along, got herself a Twitter handle.
@ForSecNRao (which she later changed to @ForeignSecNRao ), started off slowly, stating why she was on Twitter (“I just want to be able to put messages out on our position on specific foreign policy issues of public interest.”), thanking people who had welcomed her, and saying little. Ten days later, she was well into the swing of things, tweeting about the situation in Bahrain and Egypt, evacuations in Libya, sending information, messages of reassurance, and replies to anxious queries. She was lucid, quick to respond, sometimes stern, always polite.
How did she reconcile diplomacy — nuanced, highly systematic interaction, careful responses, layers of protocol — with the anarchy of Twitter? “We need to be responsible, credible and authoritative and this can imply that we are less conversational and more deliberate in our approach. But what we have demonstrated, particularly during a crisis situation like the evacuation of our nationals from Libya, is that we can operate on a real-time basis to ensure that our information and responses are prompt. The response and reactions have been overwhelmingly positive and many young persons have described this as a harbinger of change in our attitudes.”
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Since mid-March, the MEA has ramped up its social media presence with a slew of Facebook pages for Indian missions abroad, starting with Sofia and Washington. Says Rao, “You can see the emergence of a powerful phenomenon and it is important we remain engaged in this space. Keeping this in mind, we have asked our missions to establish a presence on Facebook or similar platforms wherever this is permitted under local laws.”
Suri is optimistic, if cautious. He feels the need to start developing a presence, but “We recognise that it doesn’t happen instantaneously: There is both a learning curve and the time it takes up to build friends or followers”. Keeping in mind that they represent the country, “We’ve suggested dos and don’ts. Initially use it for non-political stuff: Projecting cultural, community and business events. We hope that not only will people be sharing information, but people who are interested in India — and they can be from any ethnicity or community — join and participate. The don’ts: Stay clear of chatty, gossipy stuff, of passing judgements or opinions on the country in which you’re posted. The medium does not recognise any difference between publicly expressed views, official views and private views; you need to be aware of that. And try and respond as quickly as you can because credibility is key.”
(This story appears in the 20 May, 2011 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)
Peter,You should know that this initiative is not as black and white phenomena as you would expect. Firmly believe, one of the (not stated) reasons for going live is to keep tab on aggressive Hindu nationalist hard right leaning urban and highly educated young folks who detest left leaning GOP (CONgress). If not, ask them why some individuals called "Internet Hindus" were blocked by them instead of appropriate reply for asking tough questions related to MEA matters sans abuse. This is blatant (mis)use of state's machinery by ruling party to her advantage. Unless you do not know Bharat (India) well, this should not surprise you as its not the first case of misuse, most certainly will not be the last. Indian politics is hard to digest for a non-Indian. Give it a try !
on May 18, 2011