Army’s Additional Directorate General of Public Information (ADGPI) made its presence known on Twitter on Friday through the handle @adgpi. While conversing on twitter on Saturday with Chandigarh-based lawyer Maj Navdeep Singh, Shashi Tharoor, union minister of state for human resource development suggested that the new handle appeared a little bureaucratic and should contain ‘Indian Army’ in its name. Regulars on twitter agreed with Tharoor’s suggestion and called for a better twitter handle since the Indian Army on twitter is still in its nascent stages.

Sources say that the Army is soon proactively going to make its presence known on social media with an official Facebook page or even a youtube channel in the offing.

Armies all over the world have been proactive on social media with the US Army leading the way. The US Army not only has most of its commands on twitter but also many senior officers are active on twitter and facebook. Many of the military branches have their own blogs, which are used for constructive exchange of ideas.

While the Indian army has traditionally shied away from technology, due to the fear of security lapses, officers feel that most of such fears result from a knee jerk reaction and there is not much secret or operational information that can be exchanged through social media so as to cause any threat to the security of the nation.