INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
schemes.
The Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government announced earlier this week it would give advertisements for sums anywhere between Rs
10,000 and Rs 5 lakh to social-media influencers if they propagated government schemes and programmes
The state government has categorised influencers into four categories: Category A with a minimum of 1 million subscribers/followers,
category B with half a million subscribers/followers, category C with 100,000 subscribers/followers, and category D with at least 10,000
the larger trend of the increasing importance of social-media influencers for the Centre and state governments and political
parties.
Recently, Union Cabinet ministers Piyush Goyal, S Jaishankar, and Rajeev Chandrasekhar were interviewed by popular YouTuber
Ranveer Allahbadia, who has 5.63 million subscribers, while Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh
YouTubers have maintained it was a collaboration that did not involve money.
On Friday, Goyal met nearly 50 popular YouTubers for more than
five hours to explore how they could talk about government efforts to promote tourism, popularise handlooms, and handicrafts or even spread
awareness on cyber security.
Motivational speaker Vivek Bindra, Ganesh Prasad (Think School), Gaurav Chaudhary (Technical Guruji), and
Prafull Billore (MBA Chai Wala) were some who attended.
During his Bharat Jodo Yatra, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi gave interviews
exclusively to well-known YouTubers, avoiding the mainstream print and electronic media, with whom he interacted with during press
The Congress leadership has for several years felt the mainstream media is not fair to either the party or its leadership
Nor does it heed the issues of public interest that the Congress raises
for the Study of Journalism survey, released in mid-June, 53 per cent Indians accessed news on YouTube, 51 per cent on WhatsApp, 39 per cent
Relations Department notified the advertisement rates on Monday
The notification stated exceptions could be made if a departmental committee deemed fit a payment of up to Rs 5 lakh to well-known
influencers have to show their activity profile
For example, category A social media influencers should have posted at least 100 videos or 150 posts in the last six months.
The state
government has promised Rs 5 lakh worth of advertisements a month for category A, Rs 2 lakh for category B, Rs 50,000 for category C, and Rs
10,000 for category D.
The government notification has detailed rates for each Facebook and Instagram post and tweet
For example, a Facebook or Instagram reel posted by a category A social influencer will be paid Rs 10,000 and that by category D Rs 1,000
advertisements to publications on a board at a prominent place in the village square.
