DeshGujarat

Gandhinagar, 30 June 2012

Chief Minister Narendra Modi expressed his views on ‘Making a difference through social media’ in his blog today. Here is full text of the blog:

Dear Friends,

Periodically, I have a chance to interact with many people who are working on one or the other social cause or a national issue. These are bright individuals spanning across all age groups and from various parts of India who have taken up a cause to bring about a qualitative difference in society. These range from helping poor girls in their education, inculcating traffic sense, to spearheading blood donation to those in need.

Whenever I interact with them, I am truly amazed at the manner in which they have been innovatively using social media to tirelessly go about pursuing their respective causes, working for change. In every sense, they are an army without a General- infact they themselves are their own Generals and soldiers. Giving so much time and energy on the web selflessly for a cause is not a small feat and this surely calls for creativity, alertness and concern. I salute these individuals for their commitment. Despite busy schedules and professional careers, to devote time to such causes is absolutely commendable.

As I have stated, these people are not constrained by geography or age group. People from all over are contributing. As a matter of fact, NRIs are fast considering social media as their one stop for all the latest news on events back home due to its crisp and objective nature. Furthermore, they too are creatively responding by contributing in various ways.

Due to social media, long gone are the days when it was a herculean task for the common man to make himself heard. Today, discourse is being set in a realm where even the common man has the opportunity to make his or her voice heard. There are also instances where even the mainstream media has had to have another look at what has been published due to factual intervention by those active on social media.

Friends, I must share that there are times when I myself get to learn a lot from social media be it in terms of quality feedback, some updates and most importantly some wonderful humour in the midst of our routine. I have even met some wonderful people through social media platforms.

There are several people out there who are doing some wonderful things, adding tremendous value in the lives of others. What is even more impressive is the manner in which they have integrated latest technology and social media in their quest to bring about the difference in society. These friends who are positively contributing on social media are playing an important role towards realizing Swami Vivekananda’s dream of a glorious India. Their contributions are truly worthy of applause.

Yours
Narendra Modi