By Shatakshi Ganguly
Kolkata : Ankit Lal, the social media encyclopaedic was here to enrapture the learners on the 8th day of #MediaNext 2020, that exemplified on Development and Political communication online. Ankit Lal, a muse for the youngsters of the country, has volunteered with India Against Corruption (IAC), later Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), where he was marked as the Social Media Head. The writer of this article has also interacted with Lal personally to immerse in deeper insight of him.
#MEDIANEXT 2020, a webinar organised by Kolkata based Adamas University in association with Sharda University, Birla Global University, DME, AIMEC, Lok SamvadSansthan, exchange4media, ABP Education and IndiaReal.in, The media conclave is being organised over a period of 10 days from June 1, 2020 to June 10, 2020. Each day of the conclave focuses on one specialised domain of the Media and Entertainment (M&E) industry and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in that specific domain.
‘India Social’, considered as to be the revolutionary oeuvre for the Indian societal structure, authored by Ankit Lal is an all-inclusive perceived social media evangelist, coach, advisor, campaign evangelist, speaker and author. He is a social media activist at heart. He has worked with AAP for 3 back to back elections from 2013 to 2015. As of now, Ankit has written a research paper on ‘Social Media as a tool for Socio-Political empowerment of Rural masses’ and also working on the book ‘Social Media basics and its evolution in India’. He now owns his own designed social media firm that deals with Social media related services and training. He has penned some of the grand talking points concerning social welfare on renowned online portals like NDTV, The Telegraph, The Hindu, Huffington Post India, Quint, BBC, Oxford and others.
COVID-19 and Social Media
Ankit Lal initiated the 8thday of MediaNext by emphasised on how “user became engaged user” within the evolution of social media. He opined, “It is the biggest take away. If I say it in a one-liner, what social media has changed? It has made the user into an engaged user”. He went on sharing how the COVID-19 had given a holistic format to the lives of the people. The COVID-19 had propelled us to contemplate not just technology, but education and other activities as well on social media and digital platform. He emphasised on how COVID-19 had kept a “Checks and Balance” on humans when he rightly said, “Nature always keep a check on how human grows and this pandemic is witnessing the absolute perception of it.”
As the session proceeded, Lal shared his journey, from an engineer to a social media buff. He also spoke about his book ‘India Social’, published in 2017. He also trailed upon Mumbai Attacks, and how it has proved the importance of Social Media.
His book: ‘India Social’
The session got into interactive mode after Lal referred his book, ‘India Social: How Social Media is leading the charge and changing the country’. He said, “I have divided the book into 5 segments. First, Politics; Second, Social change- because the way social media has impacted social movement is beautiful; Third, How technology has impacted social media and vice versa; Fourth, how social media was used in the cases of natural disaster; Fifth, how social media was used by the Pop-culture.” He then explained how he approached the topics and draw inferences from 200 interviews.
His observations
Regarding Natural Disasters, he referred the Chennai floods how social media brought the awareness digitally and raised funds, entirely by social media without any Government help. He also spoke about “Nirbhaya” on the grounds of Social change. Lal said, “The legacy has been sustained since it created the difference from CAA to NRC. Earlier Government took time to respond but now a single tweet is enough to reach them.”
Speaking of Pop–culture, he mentioned “AIB Roasts”, and said, “It generated a debate about the right content in Indian public domain.” He also cited the song, “Kolaveri Di” and the film “Ship of Theseus”, which got noticed only in digital platforms. He also brought light to the Aadhar Card campaign and stop Acid Attack movement. He informed, “The flaws of Aadhar Campaign were brought to notice through social media.” He reminded the learners of the movie “Chappak” saying that, “Stop Acid Attack campaign brought a huge change through social media campaign.”
Ankit Lal falls between the top 100 influence makers. His work and journey are more appropriately painted in the book, “The Big Connect”, penned by Shalini Chopra.
Exclusive Interview
The writer of the article got an opportunity to conduct an emailed interview with Ankit Lal after the session. Here are the insights:
How did you start your career in political strategy in social media?
I volunteered with India Against Corruption (IAC) and used to handle its Social Media. When it evolved into the AamAadmi Party (AAP), I became part of the political organization heading the Social Media strategy for the organization.
Will development issues get prominence in Post-COVID era?
Development issues have gained more toeholds in the past few years and I believe that COVID will accelerate the pace of that conversation.
Do you think that social media is playing an instrumental to the pandemic terror? As in, is it helping the people or otherwise?
Social Media has had a huge role in the Covid situation. Right from asking help for food to Covid test to hospitalization to traveling – Social Media has been used by those in need of help. The ‘SonuSood helping migrants’ is a great live example of this.
How effective social media or digital platform would be for CSR communication in Post-COVID?
Social Media is a great tool for anything that has a real-world presence. It is always easier to gain traction on something that has on ground presence. Thus, any CSR activity that has footprints in the real world can easily utilize Social Media for greater reach.
How and why the corporations should communicate CSR concerns through the Internet? Will the physical intimacy go non-existent with Post-COVID era?
As the audience is online, it is imperative that the CSR communication also happens online. However, it requires consistency and many corporations will shy away from it. Though, it is an eventuality for those who want to thrive in a post Covid era. The physical intimacy will have its place but so will have digital outreach. Both should be seen as complementary to each other.
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