NDA ministers likely to be more active on FB following PM, FM

In a meeting with a Facebook official and the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry it was suggested that more ministers follow the example of PM Modi and Union finance and I&B minister Arun Jaitley to use Facebook to communicate their point. 

 After Twitter, ministers could soon be nudged in to posting regularly on Facebook. With the Modi government's continued focus on social media as the preferred medium of communication the government is brushing up its skills to that end.
In a meeting with a Facebook official and the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry it was suggested that more ministers follow the example of PM Modi and Union finance and I&B minister Arun Jaitley to use Facebook to communicate their point. Modi for instance sought suggestions on Facebook before his Australia visit, while Jaitley prefers to blog to make a succinct political point. The posts tend to have a multiplier effect generating interest and participation. 

Facebook's lead for politics and government engagement Katie Harbath met with I&B secretary Bimal Julka and social media cell officials on Friday. ``We had a good interaction where we discussed ideas on how to upgrade our presence on social media. We are also likely to involve Facebook for capacity building for our officials,'' Julka said. 

According to him Facebook was using Jaitley's posts as a case study to illustrate how the medium could be used to the hilt. 

Harbath, who focuses on political outreach, suggested that information nuggets be kept short and crisp to keep people's attention. ``Instead of heavy doses of information she suggested we give small nuggets of image, text, visual content with an eye on story telling rather than a talk-down approach,'' a source said. 

Putting a human face and story to the outreach initiative also helps engage people better. Harbath also pointed out that the social networking site's citizen engagement in India was high. For instance UK polls had garnered about 78 million views while Indian elections had generated 228 million views. 

Sources said that there were likely to be more such interactions. The ministry is also likely to organize another social media workshop along the lines of the one done some months ago
.