Twitter launches new search prompt, custom emoji and youth discussion series for Assembly polls

The information search prompt launched with the Election Commission of India (@ECISVEEP) and State Election Commission handles will make it easier to find credible and authoritative information about candidate lists, voting dates, polling booths, and EVM voter registration, among other election-related topics.

With Assembly polls set to be held in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry soon, Twitter has launched an information search prompt, a custom emoji and a youth discussion series. The microblogging platform stated in a press release that it has launched these initiatives for “encouraging informed and healthy conversations between candidates, political parties, citizens, media, and society”.

The information search prompt launched with the Election Commission of India (@ECISVEEP) and State Election Commission handles will make it easier to find credible and authoritative information about candidate lists, voting dates, polling booths, and EVM voter registration, among other election-related topics.

The prompt will be active in six languages — English, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam, Assamese, Hindi and English. Some of the hashtags for this prompt will be #विधानसभाचुनाव2021, #বাংলার ভোট 2021, #കേരളാതെരഞ്ഞെടുപ്പ്2021, #অসমনিৰ্বাচন২০২১, #தமிழ்நாடுதேர்தல்2021, #புதுச்சேரிவாக்கெடுப்பு2021.

The custom emoji of an inked finger has been also been launched for the polls to represent a citizen who has exercised their right to vote. It will be available till May 10 and people can tweet in any of the six languages, which are available for the prompt feature, to activate the emoji.

To tackle misinformation on how and where to vote, Twitter will also be publishing a series of pre-bunk prompts across languages including English, Hindi, Tamil and Bengali based on content by the national and State Election Commissions as well as civil society partners such as Youth Ki Awaz and Association of Democratic Reforms.

The prompts, which will carry information on issues such as booths, postal ballots and Covid-19 restrictions, will appear on people’s home timelines and in search. “The service will focus on de-bunking critical issues as they arise with a curated Twitter Moment,” the release stated.

Twitter also stated that it has tied up with Youth Ki Awaaz for a discussion series, #DemocracyAdda, to promote voter literacy and civic participation among young Indians. “The series will be available in English, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Bengali. Twitter will be hosting live video sessions and Tweet chats with young citizens, civil society groups, changemakers and representative candidates to talk about key issues including gender equality, employment, education, health, among others,” the microblogging platform stated.

To ensure more representation of and focus on women in election issues, Twitter is also launching the second season of its video series titled #HerPoliticalJourney.

“The series aims to raise awareness about the systemic challenges women face when pursuing political careers. The series will feature women leaders such in conversation with leading women news journalists. The videos will be recorded in English, Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam and Assamese,” Twitter stated.

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