MEA Launches Facebook App to Integrate Its Social Media Handles

Expanding its digital presence, the External Affairs Ministry today launched an app, bringing websites and various social media handles of over 170 Indian missions on a common platform to further its public outreach.

The app, developed in cooperation with social media giant Facebook, will help people connect with Indian missions abroad and the Ministry of External Affairs through a range of social media platforms without having to access individual websites.

"The app is a one stop shop to find social media handles twitter, YouTube and websites of all Indian missions abroad," said External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup.

Speaking on the occasion, Ankhi Das, Public Policy Director of Facebook for India and South and Central Asia, said no "terrorist contents" are allowed by Facebook as it does not allow valourisation of terror.

Complimenting the External Affairs Ministry for its social media outreach, she said Facebook has made the app for free. Currently over 165 Indian missions and posts are on Twitter and 172 on Facebook, while 124 have their websites and many of them their YouTube channels.

Instead of searching for websites, Facebook pages and twitter handle of individual missions, people through the app can just tap on the map of the country and immediately all social media platforms of the mission will get flashed on screen.

Swarup said the the app, hosted on Facebook pages of MEA and Indian Diplomacy, will help people in distress to contact the missions without any hassles. "I think it is also in sync with the activism that our Foreign Minister herself has shown on Twitter where every night she reaches out to people who send out their messages (for help)," said Swarup.

The MEA uses Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram, Gplus, Soundcloud, Flickr to reach out to people as part of its social media engagement. Das said the launch of the app is an example of "consumerisation of foreign policy", putting power in people's hand.

Talking about power of Facebook, she said 100 million hours of video gets posted to it every day, while the number of average posts is a staggering 2.3 trillion. She said Facebook has over 155 million users in India.