Amjad Mehmood
Islamabad :Technological growth in 21st century has helped humankind on many fronts, though there are a few goons associated too with this advancement in various societies considering their socio-political and religious beliefs. In totality, technological inventions have made life easier and provided ultimate solutions to complex issues in everyday life including the fields of health, education, communication, business, etc. One of the greatest inventions of 21st century is ‘internet’ and its modern forms including social media.
Like any other technological invention, social media has both positive and negative features. It has the ability to foster growth in character or undermine it. There are certain values embedded within social media including convenience, ease of communication, brevity, and a bit of egocentrism as well. Communication was never so easy in the past, where time and distance were the biggest hurdles however, the development of social media platforms has made communication easy, fast and meaningful leaving aside the glitches of time, distance, and access. Interactivity is one of the core values of social media which gives a sense of proximity to people to interact through social media platforms with each other.
Popular social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and various others have gripped human lives in the contemporary world. People do like to interact with each other through their preferred social networking sites. Social media has changed the landscape of marketing communication and branding techniques. Organizations, governments, and individuals use social media for rapid communication and self-promotion. Private organizations and government officials create content that can be relatable for their potential audience or the general public, increasing engagement on their social media presence. This practice is mainly helping them in creating a positive public image. The big question is, whether this increasing use of social media in government organizations from top officials and public offices is beneficial for laymen or just a gimmick to cuckold the public?
Key benefits of Social Media use for Government: Social media mainly relates to people and connects them on one common platform from all over the world. The secondary function is to connect these people with ideas, services, products, and answers they may be looking for.
There are several key benefits that government can achieve by using social media, particularly for awareness building during crisis time. Social media can be considered a game-changer for governments. Through social media platforms, people can engage in direct dialogue with politicians, civic officials, and even entire government agencies while at the same time, it gives them a chance to engage back with the public. Following are the key benefits of the use of social media at government level: –
Crisis Communication: During the spread of COVID-19, NCOC’s use of Twitter is a classic example of the use of social media in crisis communication. Citizen Engagement: The citizens’ engagement through social media helps to build trust for being a genuine informer, a sense of humanizing that Government offices and agencies have people of similar needs and attitudes. Build Public Trust: People need authenticity and a transparent mode of governance. Social media provides a perfect avenue to remain as transparent and clear with your citizens as possible. Set the Record Straight: There is an influx of misinformation through social media or other platforms on the internet. The governments use social media official accounts to post factual information. Test Messaging: Social media provides an exciting opportunity to test your message with the public. It offers low stakes, instant feedback, crafting effective messaging, and understanding of ongoing trends in the public domain. Save Money: Compared to traditional media where public outreach is quite expensive, social media has made communication easier, fast, and cheaper for governments to reach their audience. Instead of spending on advertising, government entities can now leverage more cost-efficient social platforms to raise awareness about issues the public needs to know about.
Use of Social Media in Govt offices in Pakistan: With plenty of positive uses, one of the negative aspects of social media is obsession where an individual likes to live in the social media world without realizing what is happening around. At the same time, social media presents novel and challenging strategic, policy, and managerial issues for governments. Social media is about fast, interactive communications, and the big question is how will bureaucracies adapt to the increased pressures for timely responses?
Bureaucrats in Pakistan have maintained the legacy of the colonialism era where rulers made access to public offices very difficult and government officials were habitual to keep a distance from common people. The citizens have repeatedly voiced against the complex modalities of bureaucracies in Pakistan where asking for rights or even sharing genuine concerns is just like daydreaming. The working culture in government offices is cumbersome and time-consuming and the majority of citizens avoid facing such difficulties.
In the recent past, govt offices have started to use social media and created their official accounts mainly on Twitter and a few on other social networking sites as well. These accounts are handled to communicate official versions of concerned organizations and maintain one-way flow of communication rather than interacting with the public. However, few officials have earned fame for their pro-active use of social media for interaction with the general public. Deputy Commissioner Islamabad,
Mr. Muhammed Hamza Shafqaat (@hamzashafqaat) is leading in the use of social media to interact with citizens and responds to public queries though selectively. Another pro-active user of social media,
Mr. Muhammad Ahsan Younas (@ahsanpsp) is recently posted in Islamabad as Inspector General of Police. He is using social media quite efficiently since his appointment in Rawalpindi police. City Police Officer, Rawalpindi, Mr. SajidKiani (@SajidKianiPSP) is also a good user of social media. Ministries, Govt offices, Deputy Commissioner Offices across Pakistan, and other public sector organizations have created their official social media accounts to liaison with the public and keep them updated about the ongoing happenings. Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) the spokesperson of the Pakistan Armed forces is also using an official Twitter account (@OfficialDGISPR) to communicate on matters of interest through this platform.
Government organizations and officials are bound constitutionally to serve the public without the hunt for fame and self-promotion. Their honesty, good performance, and dutifulness would get them public applause automatically. The careful analysis of Govt offices’ social media accounts in Pakistan reveals that mainly social media is being used for promotional purposes likewise the use of Pakistan Television and Radio Pakistan for the incumbent government. Social media’s core values of interactivity and public’s virtual access to Govt offices or officials without typical hurdles remain intermittent for common people who intend to get the benefit of social media. The authoritative attitude of Govt officials in Pakistan surfaces in the virtual world and limits the ultimate benefits of the use of social media in Govt offices. Social media helps in knowing the relevant conversations in public domain, educates the audiences with valuable content in a simple manner by engaging the audiences and also assists in the collection of genuine feedback. The use of social media is imperative in the contemporary world and there is a dire need for the formulation of policy to regulate the use of social media in government offices where ultimate goal should be the provisioning of services to common people through these platforms to get the optimum benefit of technology.