Social media noise reflects SIR storm on the ground
Times of India | 11 November 2025
Kolkata: From enumeration form fill-up tutorials to reels on ‘how not to mess up your Form 6', the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls has turned into an unlikely source of "content" for social media creators.
Across Instagram, YouTube, and X, Kolkata-based content creators are churning out quick guides, explainers and memes around the enumeration process that began last week. With the
's verification drive on in full swing, hashtags, like #VoterListUpdate, #Form6, #SIR2025, #SIR and #voteinformation, are trending locally. Influencers, content creators and campus bloggers are filming short walk-throughs on enumeration form fill-up, document upload and voter details correction, turning the tasks, which can be onerous to some, into easy-to-understand bite-size, video contents.
"People are confused about which form to use and how to upload address proof documents. A short video gets more attention than a circular," said content creator Suraj Sarkar, whose 45-second Instagram video on how to fill an SIR form has logged over 40,000 views and 2,000 shares.
The Facebook page of Rajesh Math Care—which otherwise teaches students shortcut maths methods—has put up a step-by-step explainer in Bengali, complete with the visual of a form.
"SIR is the hot topic right now," said digital creator Subhasree Basu, who has been posting explainers since the drive began. "I started with a few short videos, which became instant hits. People want clarity on the process."
Election officials pointed out that this digital outreach did indeed help connect with the younger voters. "But they must ensure accuracy. Independent creators are amplifying the message far beyond our reach.
But for accuracy, people should verify every detail through newspapers or the Election Commission's official channels," said a booth-level officer in Kasba.
Some creators are also collaborating with NGOs and students' organisations to simplify electoral jargon and debunk misinformation. A YouTube channel, Election Guide, has launched a series, explaining the procedure that has to be followed and pointing out the common mistakes voters make while filling up forms.
The meme creators are not to be left behind. They are turning the exercise into everyday humour. From jokes about BLOs visiting at meal times to clips showing neighbours comparing forms, the process has firmly entered Kolkata's social chatter. Sociologists said the trend signalled a larger cultural shift in what engaged the city's online audiences. "Politicians complicated the SIR narrative even before it began," said sociologist Amit Kar.
"Creators saw an opportunity to simplify it — and in the process, turned civic bureaucracy into trending content."