EAM Jaishankar highlights how ‘Reel’ culture has promoted awareness, created interest in subjects

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday shed light on the growing culture of short videos or ‘reels’ and said that it has promoted awareness and created interests in a lot of subjects across all ages.
“But this time around, I’m talking of something very different, which is what in popular parlance is known as the reel culture. The making of snippets of a minute, two minutes, and then spreading it around as vigorously and intensively as possible. Now, it’s very interesting if you follow the reel culture. I mean, it has in many ways promoted awareness. It has definitely created interest in a lot of subjects. In many ways, it is reflective of a certain sense of pride,” EAM Jaishankar said.
“It expresses aspirations. And bear in mind now, the interesting thing about the reel culture, we take, typically associated with the Gen Z. And Gen Z would be, I think, if I got my numbers right, about 10 percent of the electorate this time. But it’s not just them who are hooked on the real culture,” he added.
His remarks came as he addressed a gathering at a book launch event in Delhi of ‘HOW WE VOTE’ authored by Surjit S Bhalla.
Highlighting reel culture impact on all ages, Jaishankar said, “In fact, it’s something which is spread to all demographics, including much older demographics. So you meet a lot of people who today have knowledge, interest, understanding and exposure to things which they wouldn’t have had five years ago.”
Invoking his experience of visiting several towns and villages during the BJP’s election campaign, EAM Jaishankar said that he has discovered that people are very interested in foreign policy these days.
“My final point, which to me was not just a discovery but a very pleasant discovery, is really today how much foreign policy is actually resonating as a political issue that I go to second tier, third tier towns of India where people have interest in foreign policy, they do believe in some way that should be part of a matrix of judgment,” he said.