Why and How to use Social Media to spread the message to Democracy and Voting to Youth Voters using new media channels like web and social media. Make then aware of their rights and responsibilities.

1. Awareness Campaign to reach out to
Youth Voters using Social Media
Submitted by Nagarajan M, IAS Assistant Collector and ERO ,8- Tharad, Dist.
Banaskantha
This Campaign is based on the premise that if we need to spread a message then we have to
go where our audience are, speak in their language and provide a platform to them.
Why Youth Voters?
Youth Voters are those voters in the age group of 18 to 25 years. Most of the Voters in
this age group are first time voters. There is no formal or informal mechanism to prepare the
Voters to perform their Democratic duties.
Why this campaign
 Instill a sense of belongingness
 Make aware of rights and duties
 Realize the importance of Ethical Voting
 Enable conversation among Youth on their Democratic rights and duties.
When to conduct this campaign
The Campaign will be started in the first week of June 2012 during the special summary
revision. However the Campaign will be running throughout till announcement of elections.
What will be done
The Campaign will have both online and offline components:
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Email : mnagarajanias@gmail.com

2. Online Activities
Primarily it’s an online initiative to harness the power of Social Media Networks like
Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Majority of College Students and youth in the category access
these Social Networks with Facebook being the leading network.
The primary focus will be on a website and Facebook. A recent survey by Tata Consultancy
Services reports:
Social networking: 85% teenagers have a Facebook account, 43% are
on Orkut, 30% are on Twitter, and 27% have an account on other social
networking websites. In Delhi, 96% of those surveyed had a Facebook
account, dramatically up from 24% in 2009; similarly in Mumbai, 97% had
a Facebook account, as compared to 40% in 2009.1
The website will be the place where all content, promotional materials (audio, video,
pictures, PDFs) will be posted. Facebook will be used for promotion, engaging with the Voters
like answering questions, acknowledging comments etc. Twitter will be used for promotion.
Facebook users cross 900Mn. That is more than the population of USA 2 (313 Mn) and
less than population of India (1200Mn)
Offline Activities
Once the attention is mobilized in online networks it will be supplemented with offline
activities like Workshops and competitions and fests in Colleges.
 Poster Design Contest
 Debates
 Video Documentary Contest
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http://www.indiasocial.in/gen-y-study/
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http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html
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Email : mnagarajanias@gmail.com

3. Objectives
Awareness creation and education
Community Building – Develop thought leaders and champions who will evangelize
Voting
Create a buzz about participating in Elections.
Change perception of Voting as a duty to Voting as cool.
Goals
 Create an easily accessible, credible repository of Voter Information with Youth Focus. It
will be the “go-to” place.
 Provide essential information in easily digestible formats like pictures, infographics,
videos etc.
 Allow for spreading of message through social media, email etc by enabling easy
sharing.
Resources’ to be created:
 Online Repository of Forms, Explanations about how to fill them.
 Posters and Message contents that Youth can use to spread the message.
 Regular articles on Voting, Democracy etc which will add new perspectives to the Youth
 Get article submissions from Youth – and publish good ones. E.g. Youthkiawaaz.com
Campaign Examples (online, offline or both)
 Photo contest – The beauty of Democracy
 Where is My Polling Booth - Facebook/online app
 Facebook quiz app
 Poster Contest – to spread awareness about Voting Rights and duties.
 Slogan Contest –
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Email : mnagarajanias@gmail.com

4.  Email Campaign –
 SMS Campaign -
 Each one Catch One – Add friends to Voter List
 Appointment of Youth facilitators at College or area level.
 Course Module on Ethical Voting – can be integrated with facebook.
 Educational Videos
 User Submitted Videos
 Online Query Service - Integrated with http://ceogujarat.gov.in website.
What are the steps to be taken:
 Deciding the objectives and KPIs for the campaign
 Creation of a website – MyVoteMyRight.com
 Creation of Facebook Page , Twitter handle
 Creating collaboration platforms – team can work from anywhere
 Identifying the team and roles
 Design of Creatives and resources
 Content creation – FAQs, Articles
 Engagement with Youth
Agency Partnerships:
 Technical Partner – Webhosting
 Design Partner
o Portal design
o Implementation
 Content Creation
o Content Partner - Creative agency – Videos, Audio
o Social Media Partner – Outsource, Analytics, Reports, Monitoring
o In-house Content – adaptation to portal objectives
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Email : mnagarajanias@gmail.com

5. The EPIC Enrolment Cycle – Gap Analysis
Conclusion:
This campaign aims to bridge knowledge gap, create an online resource usable by the
population of whole of India. It provides a platform to engage with a key constituent of the
Electoral process – Youth Voters.
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Email : mnagarajanias@gmail.com