Armed forces to embrace social media in big way

Army made debut in 2013 in the wake of two major scams

The secretive Indian military has come out of its shell to embrace social media in a big way, with two out of its three principal arms — army and navy — making their presence felt.

The Indian Air Force (IAF), too, is set to make its debut.
While the army has a strong presence on Facebook and Twitter, the navy has just begun its journey. The air force is at an advanced stage of formulating its social media plan to enter the world of Facebook and Twitter on October 8, celebrated as Air Force Day.

“Social media has deeply permeated society, across all age groups. Thus, it is imperative to manage social media to shape perceptions of the society. It is here to stay, either use it to an advantage or view it as a major challenge to the organisation,” said Lt Gen V G Khandare, director general of the defence intelligence agency.

The army was the first to make the splash in 2013 in the wake of the Adarsh and Sukhna scams, which adversely affected its image. The force was in need of a platform to directly communicate the tales of courage, valour and sacrifice to the public.

“We wanted to harness the power of social media as our messages were not reaching the masses through the conventional media,” an army officer, closely associated with the organisation’s social media campaign, told DH.

The army’s Facebook page and Twitter handle paid rich dividends during the floods in Uttarakhand, Kashmir and Chennai. A separate office comprising four officers has been created in the army headquarters to manage its social media activities.

The army’s two most important positions — Northern Command and Eastern Command — also have their own Twitter handles.

The success compelled the navy and air force to use social media platforms to reach out to the common man. The navy’s first attempt was unsuccessful. But earlier this year, it launched its Twitter handle and subsequently forayed into the Facebook domain last week.

“At the air force headquarters, we are now working on the modalities on the creation of a social media cell. We will join both Facebook and Twitter in a few months,” said an IAF source.