Role of social media in the up-coming parliamentary elections 2014 in India

Abstract

Social media offers innovative opportunities for political actors, institutions and the public to interact with one another. Social media is becoming increasingly popular with politicians and their organizations as a means to disseminate political messages, learn about the interests and needs of constituents and the voter, raise funds, and build networks of support. In the age of social media, Facebook and Twitter will play a transformative role in up-coming general election 2014 in India and provided the lens through which we view it. Facebook and Twitter provide a platform to the politicians, candidates, voters, journalists, and spectators to voice their opinion. For politicians and candidates, it provides a space to directly interact and engage with voters. Globally, social media has had a huge impact during elections in other countries such as the US Presidential elections in November 2012 showed that Barack Obama carried the voters in the 18–34 age, the reason may lay within the strategy employed utilizing social networks. In the Indian context, with elections around the corner, there is a lot discussion and speculation about the impact of social networks on the outcome, specifically with the way it has fuelled some recent movements. From Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to the small, resource-strained Aam Aadmi Party, everyone is working actively on bolstering their digital presence ahead of five state polls this year and national elections next summer. The digital Indian is a tiny minority and may impact, if any, only urban seats in the actual elections. So while internet penetration is small, the number of users is rapidly growing and is dominated by first time voters. Facebook provided a new way to reach a significant number of voters in a constituency. Campaigning in India is definitely being affected by technology. Social Media has the power to influence general elections as well. It would be really interesting to see, how much influence social media has on the results of general elections next year