Political parties have really geared up for the upcoming elections. Every political party is looking for a win and come into power. The parties, who are in the power, will be propagating about their achievements to the voters.
The opposition parties will be criticizing the performance of the ruling party. This has been the standard template for all political parties all these years. The only change will be the way it is presented.
Let us now see why and how political parties use social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp and YouTube for their political agenda.
Why political parties use Social Media?
Voters use Smart phones 24/7:
Almost all of the voting public are available on the social media platforms almost 24/7. This is not exaggeration. It is the reality. Since applications like Facebook and Whatsapp are installed in their mobile devices, people generally have the tendency to check every message alert on their mobile phone.
More than the television, people are glued to their social media applications. The data given below shows the statistics of Number of social network users in India from 2015 to 2023 (in millions). A detailed report of the same can be seen here.
Number of social network users in India from 2015 to 2023 (in millions)
So it is important for political parties to stay connected to their target segment through social media applications.
Virality of the content:
It is easier to reach the mass through social media apps like facebook , youtube, twitter and whatsapp. So political parties take advantage of it and spread content on the internet. Through proper advertising on the respective social media platforms, they can make their content viral. Most of the times a content become viral if it has some kind of controversy. Controversy content is spread to create negative publicity of a competitor.
During election times, political parties take advantage of it and spread negative news about their opposite parties. Since the user does not bother about the authenticity of the content, they share and spread the controversial content faster.
By the time the concerned party comes out with their defence the damage would have been done. Online content spreads so fast that political parties use this tool to spread positive and negative content on the internet.
How political parties use social media
Social Media Agency:
Political parties hire professional social media agencies to take care of their activities. In fact, almost all political parties have a separate IT department to take care of their online presence. So whatever comes on social media platforms like Facebook and twitter are done through social media agencies. The political party’s twitter handle and their leader’s tweet will generally be handled by this agency.
Apart from this, the social media agency also takes care of creating viral content to reach out to the mass faster. Generally any controversial content about their opposition party will be spread with the help of these agencies. After the content becomes viral, then the political leaders take this as an opportunity to criticize the opposition party openly with the evidence.
Advertisements on Social Media:
Another way to use social media for election campaign is through advertisements on social media channels like Facebook and YouTube. According to a recent report on Economic times, Social media alone to corner Rs 12,000 crore in political ad spends. Read the full report here .
Political parties will advertise in the form of images and videos. They will also be writing articles on a regular basis on their party’s achievements on their social media page.
So it is going to be an interesting election where online platforms will play a major role in influencing voters. In rural areas with low internet penetration, other mediums like newspapers, direct campaigns and television ads will play a major role in the elections. I would like to conclude by saying, please do vote in the upcoming elections.
