Civic body gets colourful makeover on social media

CHENNAI: Social media portals of Greater Chennai Corporation have got a complete makeover, their Covid-19 campaign turning colourful and interactive.
Taking up tweets on e-passes, lack of testing and admission in hospitals, these portals are helping resolve problems. With just 3,000 followers before March 23, the corporation's twitter handles and Facebook page now have more than 8,60,000 followers and 50 million impressions.
"A young team hired in the last week of March ensures that the right information reaches public when rumours are doing the rounds," said deputy commissioner (health) P Madhusudhan Reddy.Such interactive programmes have helped a lot of migrant workers, he said.
The team comprises 20 youngsters from Zth Orbit, the same group which handles Metrowater's social media portals. "Our idea was simple. We wanted to allow people to be part of the entire process during this pandemic. Strategy was information, education and communication. First thing we did was break down the press releases into colourful graphs and tables that would allow people to understand the situation better. Now, it has become the model for communication by other departments as well. We also focused on posts that would instill hope and positivity. We are also getting lot of positive feedback from public," said B Thirunavukarasu, social media PR head.
The most frequently asked questions, he said, were about e-passes and quarantine norms. The team has responded to 1 lakh users and 25,000 grievances have been addressed, collating data from various teams of the corporatio. Facebook, Instagram, Telegram accounts are also active. Reddy said pieces of information such as Chennai doing the highest number of tests, age group-wise and zone-wise data were broken down for the public. Even after the lockdown is lifted and the pandemic eases off, the sites will remain interactive. chenn