Journalist Nguyen Hong Sam, General Director of the Government Portal, Editor-in-Chief of the Government E-newspaper, presented a speech at the Forum - Photo: VGP/Vu Phong

At the discussion session within the framework of the 2024 National Press Forum with the theme "Enhancing Party spirit and orientation in press activities", General Director of the Government Portal, Editor-in-Chief of the Government e-newspaper Nguyen Hong Sam gave a speech sharing experiences in using social networks to disseminate information serving the direction and administration of the Government, the Prime Minister and policy communication work.

Mr. Nguyen Hong Sam said that in addition to the Government Information fanpage on social networks, the Government Portal also participates in Zalo, Youtube, Twitter and Vietnam's Lotus network. The information that the Government Portal posts on social networks is always guaranteed to be the fastest, most accurate, and focused on the people and readers.

"At this time, important messages from Party and State leaders that we post on social networks can immediately reach about 15-17 million people," Mr. Nguyen Hong Sam informed.

The Government Information Fanpage currently has about 4.4 million followers and is considered to have the best spread and interaction among government agency fanpages in Vietnam. Meta Company - the owner of Facebook, considers the Government Information Fanpage to be very prestigious and leading in Vietnam.

As evidence for the above statement, the General Director of the Government Portal said that during the COVID-19 pandemic prevention period, the fanpage operated extremely effectively, and could immediately convey messages and instructions on pandemic prevention from the Government and the Prime Minister to 80% of Facebook users in Vietnam (50 million people).

"Currently, we use all social networking platforms to convey important messages in the direction and management of socio-economic development of the Government and the Prime Minister," Mr. Nguyen Hong Sam affirmed.

Mr. Nguyen Hong Sam affirmed that by doing mainstream journalism without sensational headlines or clickbait, one can still get high traffic - Photo: VGP/Vu Phong

Using social media to communicate policy

Taking the example of using social networks to communicate policies, Mr. Nguyen Hong Sam cited that when the Draft Law on Land (amended) was posted on the social network platform, the Government Portal received more than 5,000 comments. There were even lawyers who gave enthusiastic comments on more than 40 pages surrounding the Law.

Or in October 2022, in Da Nang, a historic flood occurred, with many areas flooded over 2m deep, cutting off many residential areas and roads, causing many families to be isolated and need help.

"There was no other way, people went to our fanpage to call for help. It was 10 or 11 pm at that time, we received all the information on the fanpage and immediately I contacted the military units in the area to report the addresses that needed help so they could respond," Mr. Nguyen Hong Sam shared.

Delegates attending the Forum - Photo: VGP/Vu Phong

The Policy Building page attracts a large number of readers.

Mr. Nguyen Hong Sam said that under the direction of the Government, the Ministry of Information and Communications, and the Central Propaganda Department focused on policy propaganda. On June 20, 2022, the Government Portal launched the Policy Development page.

After a year and a half of operation, the site now has more than 11 million visitors a month. In addition, readership growth is also good, for a long time the number of people staying online is more than 10,000 people online to read.

During the operation of the Policy Building page, the General Director of the Government Portal believes that not all headlines and clickbait will attract many readers.

"In a very difficult economic situation, 80% of readers are between the ages of 17 and 45 and they are looking for policies related to 'food, clothing, rice, money', jobs, education - policies for their lives. I think that if we do mainstream journalism, do decent journalism, we still have the opportunity to have a high readership.

Currently, our Policy Building page strives to have at least 20 million views a month by 2024," said Mr. Nguyen Hong Sam.