PMK to launch website

Political parties in Tamil Nadu have woken up to the potential of social media and launched their own websites as they think the coverage in the mainstream media is not adequate.

“We cannot fully rely on mainstream media for publicity. Social media not only helps us reach students, youth and education sections, it also gives us a good idea about the expectation of the people. Constructive criticism makes us to correct ourselves,” DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin told The Hindu .

The DMK recently re-launched its portal www.dmk.in, which was originally created in 2008 by a team of professional webmasters. Subsequently, the team created a Facebook page for DMK leader M. Karunanidhi and party treasurer M.K. Stalin also joined the social media by creating his own account.

On Wednesday, PMK’s Chief Ministerial candidate Anbumani Ramadoss launched www.anbumani4cm.com to further his campaign to promote the alternative front concept against the Dravidian parties in the State.

“You cannot ignore social media anymore, especially when even the mainstream media picks up stories from the social media. Only social media can ensure that our view point on every issue reaches our partymen and the general public alike as the mainstream media accommodates only 10 per cent of the contents of our statement or speech,” said Mr. Anbumani.

Political parties are also turning to professionals and event managers to run their websites. Mr. Karunanidhi’s web contents are managed by S. Suresh and N. Naveen, who in 2008 coordinated the election campaign of US President Barack Obama.

“Social media is also the best platform when it comes to neutralise the negative opinions. We could explain to everyone the 2G scam vis-à-vis the DMK and the impact was tremendous,” said Mr Naveen.

“We have also received reports that very senior party leaders are now keeping themselves abreast of the developments through social media,” he said.

As far as the PMK is concerned, a team of partymen in the IT industry has played a major role in launching the campaign, ‘Change and Progress with Anbumani’ and the website.

Mr. Anbumani said that gone were the days when the head of the family decided whom should they vote. Now the young members of the family were shaping the opinion. “The tech-savvy generation can be reached only through social media. There is no village in the State without an Android phone,” he said.

The State unit of the BJP also has refurbished its social media campaign and TNCC president E.V.K.S. Elangovan, active on Twitter, has opened a Facebook account.