The idea of social media being used as an enhancer in politics has gained incredible popularity over the last decade. With many social platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook being used a major tool to express and convey message, concerns, feedback and people favorability is growing to influence election campaigns across various countries.
India is a diverse country with over 40% of its total population, constitutes of under the age of 30 populations where they spend most of their time on the internet and social media platforms. These statistics triggered an idea which has helped various political parties to a major extent; using the social media platform to connect to this demographic for their agenda and political motives.
India is also the most populous democracy and the second largest online market in the world, various apps, Websites, blogs, SMS and social media platforms are used by political parties as a means of communication in people’s daily lives. Over 90% percent of mobile phone users in India have whatsapp; forwarded messages among group of people make a change in their thoughts and their views on the current political situations.
Several politicians use social media as a platform to grow their fan base and promote their political views to reach their target demographic viewers. Social media offers an extensive set of communication tools that standardizes public opinion. At the same time in the hands of the wrong people can be used to lead people into the negative.
In conclusion, social media is a powerful tool that can be used by political parties in electoral campaigns to do mass communications to people and influence their minds in any way possible. However it is questionable to conclude that targeted political advertising has had a notable impact on voter behavior at all.
