CHENNAI: The official Instagram page of the Enforcement Bureau of Tamil Nadu is brimming with pop culture memes. The idea that a government website propagates colourful memes instead of the black and white press releases and information notices might seem exciting but it also takes a lot of work. The Internet Generation, the content production house from Chennai took up this challenge of managing the social media page and spreading awareness against drug abuse in creative ways.
Even though the collaboration happened almost six months ago, the page had been gaining popularity recently and through meme culture, the team of almost 15 members aspires to be the voice of people who choose sobriety. Jaytesh Calpakkam of The Internet Generation shares, “The people who stand on the other side and choose sobriety don’t really have or only have a few channels or funnels to project all of their creativity, ideas, and voice into discussing serious issues. We wanted to become that avenue for people.”
Change in propaganda
The Internet Generation headed by Jaytesh along with Manisha Ramachandran and Aaron Kuruvilla had been handling the Enforcement Bureau’s account for the past six months. Jaytesh says, “For the past few months, we are seeing success on the page. We applied through the usual government tender process, and we got it. Before putting up memes, the page was pretty dormant, but now we have hit numbers close to 4000 on Instagram.
We are also active on Twitter.” The company believes that memes are their way of talking and also the easiest way to communicate. Jaytesh explains, “We know for a fact that if you see one press release with one Times New Roman font and boring black and white text saying, ‘Please don’t use drugs,’ you are not going to read it. But if you see entertaining content, you might pause and have a look at it.”
Taking up the responsibility
Working with a government agency is kind of refreshing and social service is being done through the page, Jaytesh comments. He adds, “For the first time for a government agency in the state, we are able to bring about the concept of using memes to promote their content. It is a drive against drugs. That is why the page sells well.” Apart from entertaining the audience, a great responsibility comes while handling a government page. Different from other pages they are currently handling, the page undergoes filtration from the officials. Jaytesh says, “You can’t really put up anything problematic.
Everything has to be vetted by government officials and it has to be fair for everybody involved. We also cannot use extremely local lingo. We cannot put up things in a light-hearted fashion. Recently, when we put up a meme of actor Vijay being in the polling booth and an old person not saying hi to him but instead to another person, we found that hilarious. We turned it into a meme conveying that the man is choosing a healthy lifestyle over drugs. We faced a lot of criticism for creating this because some people had literally interpreted that we were equating the actor with drugs, but that was not the case. Dealing with things like that is a challenge so now, we are more conscious.”
The team dedicatedly works to identify trending topics, latest memes, current affairs, and what creates buzz on the Internet. To involve more people in the fight against drugs, the company also organises contests like memes against drugs, where people can submit their entries. “We pick the best meme and give the winner a cash prize. Also, everyone who participates will get a certificate from the Enforcement Bureau officially, along with a mug. The small things like these encourage people,” shares Jaytesh.
Since its establishment a year ago, the company has branched out into doing small events, like open mics, concerts, workshops, and marketing for major events in the city. They also offer content marketing where they handle everything from scripting, filming, editing, uploading, and maintaining, while simultaneously managing their own social media profiles. TIGOM (The Internet Generation Open-Mic), another establishment of the company, provides opportunities for young artists in the city to showcase their talents. Through all its branches the company hopes to bring in a change even if it’s in a small way.
For more information, follow @theintgen and @enforcementbureautn on Instagram.