Guwahati, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinet claimed that social media has helped her party connect with the people as the mainstream media is "blacking out the oldest party".
Respecting India's diversity, the party is creating content in regional languages as much as possible, said Shrinate, head of the Congress social media and digital platforms cell.
He claimed that his party's engagement rate is 'much higher' than rival BJP.
"The engagement rate on social media is much higher for the Congress than for our main rival BJP. Despite the fact that our Actua followers are still less than the BJP, our reach is much greater," Shrinet said in an interview here.,
The fact, he said, is that "the mainstream media wants to ignore us but people still know us that what we are doing is in favor of the Congress."
Asked how Congress is using social media to reach out to the masses, he said, "The strategy is simple. We mirror what we do at the grassroots level. Don't think that social media and Politics are two divorced things, they complement each other." each other.,
He said the Congress's social media strategy is broadly based on four points - bringing out only the truth and not indulging in fake news, reaching out fast, keeping the narrative civil and related to grassroots issues and creating buzz. The content depends on the platform and audience, with video being given priority."
Shrinet claimed that issues are chosen region wise as relevance varies from place to place and the party focuses on creating content in regional languages as much as possible.
He said, "We try to do a lot in local languages. This comes from our deep appreciation of India's diversity."The essence here is that we represent the values that we stand for and we do not believe in imperialism or language or ideas," Shrinate said.
Srinath said, "Our leadership has a lot of popularity on social media, he (Rahul Gandhi) understands social media well, he talks to them (people), he makes videos from the car and it is relevant, This is beneficial for us."
On trolls being used to defame rival parties and leaders, he said, "Trolls are dangerous. I wish our politics was mature, our political discourse was mature.,
Shrinet said that while assuming her responsibilities in the party's social media cell, she had decided to keep it a 'space for meaningful work' and stuck to her end of the bargain.
The Congress spokesperson alleged that the BJP has weaponized fake news and used social media for propaganda.
Acknowledging that the BJP had a 'first mover advantage' on using social media, he said, "But they have weaponised fake news, misinformation, using it to murder people's reputation, distort the truth, "Done to promote publicity."
Shrinate said the Congress has made a conscious choice of not indulging in such activities on social media and is using it to reach out to more people.
However, the BJP has indulged in objectionable caricatures and videos, half truths and complete lies, and offensive posts especially against women, he alleged.The journalist-turned-politician claimed, "The constant threats I receive are not about how they want to stop my conduct or want to dispute the argument I am making. It is always sexual name-calling, Threatens my family, my daughter."
Shrinate also stressed on the role of social media platform owners in controlling trolls and misuse of their platforms.
Citing his experience of being criticized for posts on parody accounts in his name, the Congress leader said, "Social media owners also need to step in. Two parody accounts have been shut down.Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and other platforms will have to be more proactive in taking action on complaints."
Respecting India's diversity, the party is creating content in regional languages as much as possible, said Shrinate, head of the Congress social media and digital platforms cell.
He claimed that his party's engagement rate is 'much higher' than rival BJP.
"The engagement rate on social media is much higher for the Congress than for our main rival BJP. Despite the fact that our Actua followers are still less than the BJP, our reach is much greater," Shrinet said in an interview here.,
The fact, he said, is that "the mainstream media wants to ignore us but people still know us that what we are doing is in favor of the Congress."
Asked how Congress is using social media to reach out to the masses, he said, "The strategy is simple. We mirror what we do at the grassroots level. Don't think that social media and Politics are two divorced things, they complement each other." each other.,
He said the Congress's social media strategy is broadly based on four points - bringing out only the truth and not indulging in fake news, reaching out fast, keeping the narrative civil and related to grassroots issues and creating buzz. The content depends on the platform and audience, with video being given priority."
Shrinet claimed that issues are chosen region wise as relevance varies from place to place and the party focuses on creating content in regional languages as much as possible.
He said, "We try to do a lot in local languages. This comes from our deep appreciation of India's diversity."The essence here is that we represent the values that we stand for and we do not believe in imperialism or language or ideas," Shrinate said.
Srinath said, "Our leadership has a lot of popularity on social media, he (Rahul Gandhi) understands social media well, he talks to them (people), he makes videos from the car and it is relevant, This is beneficial for us."
On trolls being used to defame rival parties and leaders, he said, "Trolls are dangerous. I wish our politics was mature, our political discourse was mature.,
Shrinet said that while assuming her responsibilities in the party's social media cell, she had decided to keep it a 'space for meaningful work' and stuck to her end of the bargain.
The Congress spokesperson alleged that the BJP has weaponized fake news and used social media for propaganda.
Acknowledging that the BJP had a 'first mover advantage' on using social media, he said, "But they have weaponised fake news, misinformation, using it to murder people's reputation, distort the truth, "Done to promote publicity."
Shrinate said the Congress has made a conscious choice of not indulging in such activities on social media and is using it to reach out to more people.
However, the BJP has indulged in objectionable caricatures and videos, half truths and complete lies, and offensive posts especially against women, he alleged.The journalist-turned-politician claimed, "The constant threats I receive are not about how they want to stop my conduct or want to dispute the argument I am making. It is always sexual name-calling, Threatens my family, my daughter."
Shrinate also stressed on the role of social media platform owners in controlling trolls and misuse of their platforms.
Citing his experience of being criticized for posts on parody accounts in his name, the Congress leader said, "Social media owners also need to step in. Two parody accounts have been shut down.Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and other platforms will have to be more proactive in taking action on complaints."
