Himachal Congress legislators get social media tips

Congress legislators of Himachal Pradesh underwent training Sunday on how to use social media tools - Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp - to reach out to their voters ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

It was a first-of-its-kind workshop to train volunteers from the party on the use of Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp to reach out to the common man, Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) spokesperson Naresh Chauhan told IANS.

He said the party selected 75 members initially and held workshops to educate them in handling social media. He said more such workshops would be organised in future.

Chauhan said five All India Congress Committee functionaries gave tips about the use of social media to communicate with people about the policies and programmes of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government.

The use of internet in the hill state is limited as compared to other states, but the ruling party believes it can be a tool to reach out to the voters at the grassroots.

"The social media volunteers should spread awareness about the ideology and policies of the party and the government," HPCC president Sukhvinder Sukhu said at the workshop.

He also said the party workers should have a positive approach while handling social media, and they should not use abusive language towards anyone while posting messages on sites.