2014 polls: Social media, the real winner

This election is verily a social media-driven election. All parties used social media like the twitter and Facebook to reachout to the voters.

In 2009, the only Indian politician to be on twitter was Shashi Tharoor. He had just 6000 followers. today, it is extremely rare to find any politician, who is not on twitter or facebook. The Internet and Mobile Association of India says that a well-planned social media intervention can swing 3-4 per cent of votes.The Google had created an election hub to help Indian voters. Google + hangouts have helped the voters and the leaders to come on one platform and interact.  

Consider these: 

The number of election-related tweets after the Phase VII of the polling is a staggering 49 lakh, while the total number of tweets in whole of 2013 is just 20 million. 

From January 1 to May 12, there were 56 million election related tweets. On every polling day in the nine-phase election, there were 5.4 to 8.2 million tweets. 

Narendra Modi has over 3.89 million followers on twitter and over 14 lakh fans on Facebook. 

There are an estimated 20 crore Indians are Internet users.  Facebook has 10 crore users in India.

In fact, a study by the  Internet and Mobile Association of India has said that Facebook can tilt the scales in at least 150 of the 543 constituencies. Internet pejoratives like AAP tards, Feku, Pappu have become common parlance. Social media helped the candidates not just reach out but also ensured that they checkmated their rivals. For instance, as the campaigning was on in Amethi of UP,  BJP candidate Smriti Irani tweeted about the interference of Priyanka Vadra's PA with the poll process. Immediately, the officials asked the PA to leave Amethi. Similarly, Digvijay Singh's relation with a TV anchor was revealed through twitter. Finally, Diggie Raja had to use the same twitter to put an end to the controversy by saying that he would tie the knot with the female anchor. 

Most leaders appear to have taken a leaf out of Obama's successful online campaign and are trying to replicate the same in Indian conditions. But, the fact is Social Media alone cannot guarantee electoral success. It can at best amplify the positivity surrounding a party or a candidate. Otherwise, AAP should have ruled India by now. After all, it is at the top of most of the Internet trending lists.

-Raka@Sakshipost