The government’s social media set-up will be restructured so that important messages are more effectively communicated to the public.

“Facebook itself has become a media of much of the consumed information that circulates in SVG at the moment.

“In St Vincent alone, there is a staggering 60,000 active Facebook accounts,” Senator Rochard “Pitbull” Ballah told Parliament on Wednesday during the 2021 national budget debate.

Ballah has been given the responsibility of revamping the government’s information service, and spoke about an amalgamation of the Agency for Public Information, the National Broadcasting Corporation, VC3 television station and the Government printery.

He told Parliament that much of the news makes its way into the homes of individuals via Facebook, so much so, that it has given rise to social media based news and entertainment organizations, which have the basis for the dissemination of much of the content received by citizens today.

“I wish to now emphasize the need for a proper social media product in the government information service.

“For the past decade or so, the world has seen the proliferation of social media networks in various forms.

“It started back in the days with Hi5, Tagged and America Online to name a few,” Ballah noted while adding that today, there are dozens of frequently accessed social media sites and applications that have solidified themselves as part of our day to day lives.

He said that the evolution of social media has given rise to social media personalities and celebrities around the world, and right here in SVG.

“It has gotten to the point, Madam Speaker, that social media has overtaken traditional media such as radio and TV distributions in terms of accessibility and consumption.

“That being said, Madam

Speaker, it is only prudent that our new amalgamated information entity embrace this platform more aggressively to ensure that all bases are covered when it comes to getting information to the public,” Ballah, a communications expert and disc jockey told Parliament.

Ballah noted that the Government is hoping to create a new Internet and social media division to produce and refresh content for the government website, and maintain, refresh and produce content for YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other social media platforms under the amalgamated entity.