Hyderabad: India’s one of the biggest Public Relations (PR) Professionals Apex body, Public Relations Council of India (PRCI) , Hyderabad Chapter organised a Panel Discussion on “Social Media in Today’w World here in city on Saturday till late night at Hotel Manohar.
Addressing the PR fraternity immediately after inaugurating the panel discussion, Mr. K.T. Rama Rao, Minister for IT, Government of Telangana said it is not what you actually do, but what you present is more important.
As politicians we deal with two different forms of media—print and electronic. Now we have third menace which is a social media. We have been continuously haunted by social media. It is really challenging for us politicians to deal with all these three different formats of media, Rama Rao said.
Speaking further he added that the technology is supposed to make our lives easy, but are making more complicated. Social Media has created an another layer, but, it is very impactful. Twitter is very addictive. Our Prime Minister Modi is avid and active Twitter. These social media offer an another forum through which we can reach our people without any filter.
Electronic Media tends put what is said in 60 minutes in just 30 seconds and repeats the same, as if the politician has not said anything elese. Where as Social Media helps us to reach the masses unadulterated and unedited straight to their hearts. Our Chief Minister and my father is more misunderstood than understood by the electronic media and during the days of agitation, they have only showed that they wanted in just thirty seconds and rest of the speech has gone for toss, he informed.
Speaking about Social Media in today’s world, Mr. Rama Rao said ”today people in urban cities ‘tweet’ more than ‘vote’. They just resolve to armchair criticism and they don’t go to vote. What it matters is those who go and vote".
Speaking about PR he saide management of perception and reality are two different things.
The perception created by what is shown in thirty seconds in electronic media becomes reality, which is really painful. Government of Telangana is proactive government to Social Media. The government has created a Social Media Cell. Our ministry has now Facebook and Twitter Accounts. Our government will also have digital platform-CMO Telengana to reachout to people he said.
Public Relations is a very important tool. And every one needs to promote themselves. Our government will not shy away in promoting various activities taken up by using PR, he said.
Mr. K. Eswar, General Manger of Central Bank of India—Hyderabad Zone graced as the Guest of Honour.
The Panelists comprising of Ramesh Loganathan, Chairman of ITsAP, Shakeel Ahmed, Public Relations Officer of South Central Railways; Prasad Pingali, Co-founder of CEO of Veooz Labs Pvt. Ltd and Mrs. Nischala Agnihotri, Content Marketing Consultant on Social Media deliberated on “Social Media in Today’s World”. Mr. Prashanth Meka, Head Branding, IIIT-Hyderabad moderated the panel discussion. The subject has evoked lot of response. Nearly 250 PR, Advertising, Media, Digital Marketing Professonials participated in the meeting.
Earlier welcoming the gathering, Dr. Ghisulal Jain, Chairman of PRCI Hyderabad said, the subject for Panel Discussion was chosen after lot of deliberations. It is topical, need of the hour and informative and useful to many he said. Ajai Agarwal, National President of PRCI while addressing the gathering said, we must change along with the changing times. If you want to keep pace with the changing landscape of PR Profession, you need to be abreast with the latest developments.
Starting the Panel Discussion Ramesh Loganathan said it is a Social Media is a fantastic media to connect. Mr. Shakeel Ahmed of South Central Railways said it is helping Indian Railways to reach masses in emergencies, delays, crisis and derailments. It is such an interactive platform, it is opened out eyes at SCR for its effectiveness, he said. Prasad observed that it is a powerful marketing tool. It is also powerful communication tool. It allows to voice their concerns, share their opinion. It’s informal nature, adds more to its impact.
Nischala Agnihotri opined that the Social media changed the way people interact. The biggest change is the way that we interact due to social media is the sheer number of people that we can interact with, the way we do business, market, make our voices heard and what not. It has become the important source of ‘News’ now. Interaction at such a massive scale, it only possible to Social Media. It changed Political Landscape, the landscape of governance. Social media has also played a large part in fostering literacy. Children who start using the platforms develop early communication skills, and generally become more literate. This is an encouraging trend. The whole dynamics of marketing have been changed, and rather than investing in mass channels ads, companies are becoming more consumer-centered through interactions made over social media.
Due to these changes, the landscape of PR Profession has been radically changing in the last few years. Consequently, the profile and skills of the public relations professional have also evolved to follow this new wave. The Panel Discussion was organized in this light of background to help PR professionals.
