As the trusted reserve force of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (Youth Union) is fully aware of the important role and position of its members and young people – the pioneering, vanguard force in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland. The application of digital transformation is an essential requirement, task, and solution for all levels of the Youth Union to monitor and forecast the ideological situation, sentiments, and aspirations of its members and young people, thereby contributing to improving the effectiveness of Youth Union work and youth movements, while orienting and educating the young generations to devote themselves to national development in this new era – an era of the nation’s rise.

Promoting digital transformation in the Youth Union

The Fourth Industrial Revolution has provided people with greater access to information. Alongside positive information, there is also malicious content that negatively affects the perceptions and attitudes of Youth Union members and young people. Therefore, applying information technology and digital transformation is a key “lever” to enhance the quality of monitoring, forecasting, and orienting public opinion today. The application of scientific and technological achievements such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and the Internet of Things (IoT) helps personalize communication and education content for young people, while strengthening the ability to analyze and effectively forecast the ideological situation and public opinion among youth.

In recent years, to improve the quality of monitoring public opinion, the Youth Union has proactively innovated its methods, combining multiple measures to collect, synthesize, reflect, and promptly orient public opinion among members and young people. In particular, it has focused on applying digital transformation achievements in implementing its tasks, as demonstrated by several concrete results:

The Youth Union has brought into play the role of its network of public opinion collaborators, and applied digital transformation in collecting public opinion information from grassroots reports. This network is continuously consolidated from the central to the grassroots level. In addition to full-time Youth Union officials, it also includes collaborators who regularly monitor and use the internet and social media. These collaborators serve as a bridge between the Youth Union and its members across the country.

Youth Union officials and collaborators in charge of public opinion work operate actively and frequently, quickly grasping and updating issues of public concern. Through automated software, the Central Committee of the Youth Union can promptly compile feedback and produce comprehensive public opinion reports, enabling effective handling of emerging situations. Any complex, sensitive case or “hot spot” detected, which affects security and order, will be reported quickly so thta they can be resolved in a timely manner.

The Union’s press, radio, television, and publishing agencies have actively contributed to the communication and education work, as well as to monitoring the situation and timely orienting public opinion among members, young people, and the public. Newspapers such as Tien Phong and Thanh Nien, with large readerships, have played an important role in promoting a healthy lifestyle and good values among young people. By promoting the nation’s fine traditions, good people and good deeds, and volunteer activities, the papers have provided many role models for youth to follow and encourage greater community responsibility.

To strengthen the work of monitoring information, the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Youth Union has established a weekly public opinion reporting mechanism for its press agencies. Each week, these press agencies compile and report on information and issues receiving significant public attention, analyzing and assessing readers’ opinions, especially those of young readers. The media agencies directly linked to the position and role of the Youth Union have organized a series of articles, news bulletins, special reports, dedicated pages, publications, and high-quality, engaging models and activities - particularly the “Fighting Fake News” column on social media platforms. This column provides accurate information, analyzing and refuting distorted arguments, and helping members and young people distinguish between true and false information. By doing so, the work has helped protect young readers from being exploited or drawn into wrongful activities. The application of digital transformation and the use of cyberspace in communication work have been implemented in a synchronized and determined manner across multiple digital platforms, producing positive results that meet the demands of the new situation.

The Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union has deployed core forces to participate in social media platforms, groups, and forums with large numbers of members and young people. This is an effective and rapid channel for listening and capturing information, gathering large and diverse opinions from members and young people, enabling a more substantive assessment of social issues. Youth Union levels have established groups in charge of daily updating public opinion on Zalo, Viber, Telegram, and Facebook, promoting a pioneering role in connecting a network of community pages on social media to ensure synchronization and timely capture of prominent information and issues that attract frequent public attention. In addition, the Youth Union has built and leveraged the participation of core members of social media platforms and forums to orient public opinion. These core participants can act as “opinion leaders,” creating trends and guiding discussions in the online community. Harnessing their influence is an effective method for shaping public opinion, especially when seeking to convey a particular message to a wide number of members and young people, as they can help post, disseminate information, and influence community views.

Direct dialogue activities, broadcast live on social media (livestream), have brought a breath of fresh air to the Youth Union work, bringing the organization closer to its members and young people. Each year, dialogues between Party committees, authorities, heads of agencies at various levels, the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, Youth Union organizations, and members and young people are carried out in an effective manner. These are opportunities for members and young people to express their thoughts, feelings, and aspirations to the Party and the Youth Union, and also the chance for the organization to grasp the ideological situation of members and public opinion among the youth (1). The openness and sincerity of these dialogue forums have strengthened and developed members’ and young people’s trust in the Party, State, local authorities, and the Youth Union, encouraging them to actively contribute to society and the country. Such dialogues also help detect shortcomings in the formulation and implementation of guidelines and policies, thereby enabling proposals for solutions to address them, contributing to building a better society.

When broadcast live on social media, major activities of the Youth Union have expanded their reach, attracting widespread attention from members and young people. Through these livestreams, the Central Committee of the Youth Union has collected feedback from members and young people on program quality, thereby adjusting the methods and content of activities to better suit practical conditions.

Notably, the “Vietnamese Youth” application serves as a digital bridge, connecting members and young people with the Youth Union and the community. The application not only provides information but also integrates many features, such as member information management, organization of activities, online competitions, and the creation of a dynamic and creative interactive environment. In particular, its functions of connecting, informing, communicating, and guiding public opinion among members and young people are key factors enabling the Youth Union to proactively engage and shape ideology in the multi-dimensional and complex social media environment. The application is also an effective tool for educating members and young people about moral values and healthy lifestyles, contributing to the development of a young generation with ideals, firm political will, and a sense of responsibility towards society. In fact, the combination of direct dialogue, livestreaming, and the “Vietnamese Youth” application has created a diverse and effective communication channel, enabling the Youth Union to reach, listen to, interact with, and guide its members and young people more comprehensively. Proactivity and creativity in applying technology have helped the Youth Union affirm its role as a trusted companion of its members and young people, making important contributions to the organization’s development and the cause of national building.

The Central Committee of the Youth Union has adopted the “big data” approach to monitor, synthesize, process, and guide public opinion through the development of big data infrastructure in Vietnam today. The use of “big data” enables the Youth Union to access and analyze vast volumes of information, providing a more comprehensive, in-depth, and accurate understanding of public opinion among young people. This method involves collecting data in large volumes, at high speed, and in multiple formats, which are gathered, processed, stored visually, analyzed, and queried in order to draw conclusions based on the entirety of the data, unlike sampling methods. The “big data” method is implemented across social media accounts, news sites, online newspapers, blogs, and forums. Public opinion data is collected and analyzed across all platforms (online newspapers, news sites, social media posts, forums, and other sources) on various issues and fields, both domestic and international, that attract significant attention from members, young people, and society at large. The Central Committee of the Youth Union has studied and established an appropriate system of keywords to ensure that information is collected accurately and promptly.

The analysis results show that members and young people are increasingly inclined to access information via mobile devices and prefer concise, visual, and engaging content. Since 2018, the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Youth Union has directed its subordinate committees and units to develop methods for assessing the impact of public opinion through the application of “big data” technology, conducting 13 regular surveys and two irregular surveys. The process of applying the “big data” method shows that the use of technology applications focuses primarily on synthesizing information, regularly adjusting topics, and accurately identifying the tone of information (positive, negative, neutral). At the same time, it requires analyzing and evaluating available data to identify issues of concern, making comparisons, assessing the direction of information impacts, and thereby accurately forecasting the situation and orienting public opinion for members and young people.

Key tasks and solutions for improving the quality and effectiveness of monitoring public opinion, collecting and processing information in the new phase

The practical application of digital transformation by the Youth Union in recent years has yielded valuable lessons in enhancing the quality and effectiveness of public opinion monitoring and information processing. To meet new requirements, the Youth Union will focus on several key tasks and solutions in the time ahead:

First, harmoniously combine traditional methods, leveraging existing forces, with the achievements of digital transformation to monitor public opinion comprehensively and effectively. It is clear that information technology plays an important role in providing the platform for accessing, storing, and processing data more efficiently. However, the most crucial factor remains the human element because technology cannot be fully effective if users lack the knowledge, skills, and awareness to utilize it properly. It is essential to select the right issues and keywords, and have strong analytical skills and forecasting capacity. To that end, regular training, coaching, and skills development for contributors are necessary, alongside the continuous consolidation of the network of full-time staff, rapporteurs, and communicators at agencies, units, and localities to serve public opinion orientation.

Second, in organizing activities, the Youth Union needs to shift from the traditional one-way approach to a multi-dimensional one, encouraging members and young people to actively contribute ideas and feedback during the planning and implementation process. It must create effective feedback channels for members and young people to share their perspectives and contribute ideas. It must also listen to their views and responses, and then adjust the content and methods of activities accordingly.

Third, the Youth Union must pay attention to, and place emphasis on forecasting trends, psychology, and public reactions to important events and issues, so as to proactively provide timely orientation. Information must be delivered quickly and accurately to meet the needs of members and young people. It is necessary to apply multiple modern solutions combined with traditional approaches in order to measure audience reach. The Youth Union also needs to promote positive information to create a “green cyberspace,” using constructive and positive content to push back against negative information.

Fourth, the Youth Union should continue to promote the use of digital platforms, especially social media, to orient and spread positive information among members and young people. Instead of relying on communication that lacks interaction, it must create lively, appealing digital media products that are close and relevant to the daily lives of members and young people. This requires creativity in using short videos (reels), infographics, podcasts, animations, and other formats, while focusing on issues that concern youth, such as employment, entrepreneurship, love, life, culture, sports, and social activities. At the same time, the Youth Union needs to strengthen coordination and cooperation with media enterprises and admins of large online communities to effectively and promptly capture public opinion and the needs of members and young people. This will create the foundation for building more practical and relevant Youth Union programs and activities. In addition, it is necessary to build a network of collaborators who are creative and reputable within the online community, and who are capable of producing high-quality digital media products suited to the preferences of young people.

Fifth, the Youth Union should focus on effectively implementing the “Digital Mass Literacy” movement throughout the organization, regarding it as a key task. It should mobilize members and young people to participate in building and developing digital infrastructure, information systems, and databases to serve the building of a digital government, digital society, and digital citizens. The Youth Union should intensify communication about exemplary models and creative approaches in movements led by members and young people. It should organize “Digital Mass Literacy” classes to disseminate knowledge and skills in applying technology to the public, through various forms both in person and online. This work should be given priority in remote, mountainous, and disadvantaged areas. Efforts should be concentrated during the Youth Month, the summer volunteer campaign, the winter volunteer drive, and the spring volunteer program.

Sixth, the Youth Union should establish interconnected mechanisms for cooperation among relevant agencies to monitor, reflect, and exchange information, to provide orientation, and to promptly handle emerging situations in public opinion. It should coordinate closely with functional agencies such as the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of National Defense, and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in exchanging information, providing orientation, and combating hostile and distorted views and harmful information in cyberspace.

The application of digital transformation to monitor and forecast the ideological situation of members and young people is an important and urgent task in the current context. Achieving major breakthroughs in the Youth Union’s digital transformation work in the coming period will contribute to building a generation of Vietnamese youth with firm ideology, strong political will, intelligence, and skills, who are ready to shoulder historic responsibilities in the new era, an era of the nation’s rise.

(1) For example, the 2024 forum “Youth Voices – Union Actions” connected 12,656 bridge points and drew the participation of over 1.5 million Youth Union officials, members, young people, and children at home and abroad, who followed and interacted directly. Additionally, Union platforms recorded 9,728,639 youth engagements.