Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav Saturday acknowledged the reach of social networking sites and urged legislators to log on for political advancement.This was after months of denial in accepting the utility of these sites as a useful tool for politicians.Speaking at a workshop for state legislators to make them aware of the social networking sites like Facebook and microblogging site Twitter, Yadav said the time had come to use these tools and assimilate the latest technology in governance.He added the social media was an important and effective tool in the hands of the public representatives to gauge their minds and also send across their viewpoints.
The chief minister informed the public representatives on how social media can play a pivotal role in helping people and understanding their needs. During the workshop, Rahul Khursheed of Twitter India informed the participants of the use of Twitter by politicians across the world.Piyush Poddar of Google India told the legislators about the benefits of the website and informed the public representatives on how they can upload videos on YouTube and reach out to people. Google India's Fatima Alam also elaborated on the reach and effectiveness of social media for public representatives. Legislators will be trained during the workshop on the nitty gritties of opening accounts on these platforms and posting updates on their profiles.After the successful social media campaign of Narendra Modi during the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Yadav had rubbished its effectiveness and said on the floor of the assembly that Twitter was nothing more than chirping of birds!