‘Social Media for Democracy Workshop’

Date: 9^th Aug ’14
Venue: Chief Minister’s Residence,5 – Kalidas Marg,
Lucknow, UP

Shri. Akhilesh Yadav with organizers & presenters from 5^thEstate, Google, Twitter, DEF & IDAF

The first workshop under the Social Media for Democracy project was organized for Uttar Pradesh MLAs by Fifth Estate Trust along with Digital Empowerment Foundation and India Development Alternatives Foundation. It was held on 9 August at the CM Residence, Lucknow and began with a brief introduction by Venkitesh Ramakrishnan, Chief Advisor & Advocate, FifthEstate Trust followed by an address by Shri. Akhilesh Yadav. Mr. Yadav talked about his own social media experiences and how it is a very powerful medium with both positive and negative connotations.

Akhilesh Yadav being welcomed

Akhilesh Yadav addressing the audience

The first presentation was by Piyush Poddar, Google on how social media is used worldwide and how different Google tools can be useful for politicians. He talked about Google Search, Analytics, Hangout, Google Plus, YouTube etc. and gave examples of politicians in India and abroad and also of Bangalore Traffic Police to depict the use of social media.

After that, Raheel Khurshid from Twitter also showcased social media use by world leaders and showed Twitter case studies. He also taught the people about hashtag, handle and how to create Twitter accounts using Android phone and iPhone. A few inputs were also given by Pallavi Gupta from time to time, emphasizing why the MLAs should start using social media now and why there is no escape from it.

Piyush Poddar, Google

Raheel Khurshid, Twitter

Pallavi Gupta, Fifth Estate Trust

DEF gave a demo on social media usage by showcasing a demo profile of an MLA. Devendra Bhadauria explained about how social media can help politicians reach grassroots and how DEF can help develop social media profiles and websites for MLAs. Then Rucha Deshpande introduced 8 scenarios based on daily lives of MLAs and took up examples from the work of UP Govt. itself. The scenarios covered Information Broadcast, Discussion, Feedback and Appreciation through the use of tools like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and website. The presentation ended with a showcase of a demo website designed for MLAs with different useful features.

Social Media for MLAs Demo by Devendra Bhadauria and Rucha Deshpande from DEF

After the presentation, all presenters came back on stage to answer questions from MLAs. There were 4-5 questions from an MLA and a few more from others. After that, Akhilesh Yadav addressed the MLAs once more and urged them to make social media profiles.

Presenters answering questions

MLA asking questions

Workshop Outcomes

The response to the workshop was positive from the Chief Minister and the U.P. Govt. MLAs expressed interest in getting their own Social Media profiles. The project would be taken forward by DEF soon.

Keep visiting the webpage for more updates on the project.

Almost 90 MLAs from Uttar Pradesh Govt. attended the workshop