External affairs: India
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Digital diplomacy
2016: India in top 10
The Times of India, Apr 07 2016
India in top 10 nations for digital diplomacy
The government said that India had been ranked among the top 10 nations in terms of its digital diplomacy performance over 2015-16 by Diplomacy Live, a global research, advocacy , consulting and training platform.
India has been ranked seventh. India and Mexico are the only two countries from the developing world in this list, it said.
“India's high ranking is despite a relatively modest budget for public diplomacy .The ministry's official Facebook page, with more than 1.2 million followers, is second only to that of the state department amongst foreign ministries (excluding its companion page `Indian Diplomacy' which alone has some 850,000 followers),“ said MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup.
“On Twitter, our combined presence -the official spokesperson's account plus the public diplomacy account -has crossed 1.2 million.On Youtube, with 40,000 subscribers and 30 million minutes viewed, the ministry's video content has truly gone viral,“ he added.
MEA is also available on G+, Flickr, Instagram, and Soundcloud platforms. These combined platforms have followers in excess of 4 million and an average monthly reach in excess of 20 million.The MEA also has a unique mobile app, which has garnered more than 1,50,000 down loads on Android and iOS platforms. It now being revamped to accommodate new technologies.
“In addition to digital diplomacy at headquarters, India's missions and posts have increasingly embraced the use of social media. With support from MEA, more than 95% of our missions and posts are now available on Facebook and 60% on Twitter. Their online presence plays a critical role in many crisis situations and was instrumental during the recent evacuation efforts from Yemen, Libya and during the earthquake in Nepal,“ said the official.
