Sometime ago, I remember a prominent foreign journalist remarking that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is cleverly changing the rules of mainstream media by making them bow down to his digital media prowess. Remember the time when our television anchors virtually read the PM's Twitter handle on-air to 'break' the news that US President Barack Obama will be present at India's Republic Day parade on January 26. I mean, are you really 'breaking' the news when it's already heard, seen and read by a thousand others too at the same time. It was clear soon after he came to power that the Prime Minister had big ambitions for his digital diplomacy drive, aimed at providing information to every citizen through the powerful social media. [related-post] An example of that aspiration became evident as the Prime Minister prepares to embark on a three-nation tour of China, Mongolia and South Korea. On Tuesday night, I, along with thousands of others, received a digital newsletter from the PMO directly in my mail inbox which intends to keep me updated of all the developments associated with the Prime Minister's foreign tour. The newsletter arrives for those who have subscribed to information from the PMO's My Gov portal and narendramodi.in. For me, even as a journalist who has to remain up-to-date with all the news, it was a refreshing feeling - an affirmative sign that the leader of the world's largest democracy understands the power of digital media and the gains he can make through it. ALSO READ: Interactive story about Modi's first year in power The newsletter was stylish (as is everything associated with PM Modi) and yet simple. Apart from links to the Prime Minister's social media accounts, it will lead you to a single web-page that had all the information you would need about all his foreign visits. The portal has dates of the PM's foreign tours along with the places and the people he would meet. If you want to watch the PM's events live when he goes abroad, there is an option for that too. There are three different web pages, which have been designed for each of the three countries that PM Modi will be visiting - China, South Korea and Mongolia. It has hashtags, a 'social buzz' (where you will get all Twitter updates) along with information specific to each tour. The page also has a dedicated portal, as part of My Gov, where you can contribute your suggestions, views and perspectives to different subjects right from entrepreneurship and skill development to all-round digitisation. The My Gov portal, which was launched within two months of the Modi government assuming office, has more than 8,90,000 registered members. With massive followings both on Twitter (12 million) and Facebook (28 million), PM Modi's social media outreach is certainly well on its way.
