While Indian political parties did experiment with the digital medium in the 15th Lok Sabha elections, it would be interesting if the momentum was continued to establish a conversation with the people.
Websites like http://india.gov.in , http://goidirectory.nic.in/ and http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ provide some static information, however, web 2.0 offers many more opportunities for politicians and leaders to leverage.
Spread awareness:
Leaders can use Blogs / websites and microsites to communicate their missions/opinions and spread the sentiment to citizens. A lot of times the Government makes efforts which are not communicated to people at large (I, for example, did not know of all the helplines available to women for eve-teasing). Channels like you tube, social networking sites and blogs can be used to spread awareness among the youth of today about all the efforts being made.
Establish conversations to get feedback:
Needless to say, web 2.0 will prove to garner tremendous feedback from people. If all the responses are judiciously managed (clubbed under different heads and forwarded to the concerned people in the Govt, who will take the necessary action), not only will it establish a conversation with people, but will be an excellent tool for PR of the politician / political party. We all know, conversations and positive feedback on the internet can work wonders for a brand, and I see no reason why it won’t work in this case.
Garner participation:
When I’m online reading, for example, a politicians’ initiative on safety for women, and I come across comments from 5 women who have benefited from it, it will instantly make me appreciate the efforts and ensure I vote for this candidate the next time. If there is a mechanism provided online, where I can get information & register for volunteering, I would love to participate. If I can forward the initiative to a friend, I would instantly forward it to all my friends and get more participation for the effort.
Besides spreading awareness, establishing conversations and garnering participation, a lot more can be done online. Websites to encourage small scale trade, with a platform for people to interact (for example, if I want to establish a small scale industry, I could simply log on to the relevant site and download the list of vendors with their contact information).
I am sure there are 100s of ways in which the digital medium can be leveraged… But I’ll stop at just this for now.
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