Literature Review The 17th Lok Sabha election which are underway are different from all the previous edition in the history of independent India
Literature Review
The 17th Lok Sabha election which are underway are different from all the previous edition in the history of independent India, and one of the major differentiators is the way the social media has been used to reach out to and woo potential voters. There will be about 149 million first time voters in 2014, a majority to whom technology comes easy. Social media had change the way people communicate with each other. In previous years traditional media play a significant role in creating awareness among people but over period of time social media become important marketing tool which not only aware people but help to attract them. Politicians are becoming more and more active on social media. This research examine that whether getting influence by social media young voter will cast their vote in upcoming elections. Whether social media can be game changer in 2019 elections. With the help of social media will it possible for political parties to get vote from young voters. Below are the graphical findings which represents the data on Internet users in India from various perspective.
Indian Election System:
India, a largest democracy in the world, is secular and socialist country. Here, election of representatives of people involves management of the mega event in the world. During 2014 general elections, there were around 0.9 million polling stations across the country. The electoral roll is a list of all people in the constituency who are registered to vote. Only those people with their names on the voting list are allowed to vote. There are total 543 Parliamentary constituencies in India and this mega event of elections was held in 9 phases. The first phase was held on 07th April 2014 and the last one was on 12th May 2014. The number of parties registered with the Election Commission of India is 1,616. This number consists of 6 national parties, 47 state parties and others as registered unrecognized parties. The elections of 2014 had a battle between few major national parties, namely the Indian National Congress (INC) or commonly known as Congress, the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and some other national parties like the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) etc. forming the third front. The amount of money spent by the parties in these elections was around 30,500 crores which is second highest in the world after the US Presidential elections for year 2012 and it was around $7 billion.
Brief Definition Of Social Media:
Social media consists of various user-driven (inbound marketing) channels (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, blogs, YouTube). These channels represent a stark difference from the advertiser-driven (outbound marketing) push model. As the principal owner of the customer relationship in the firm, typically, the marketing department is responsible for managing these social media channels. Although some may argue that the customer relationship is “everyone’s” responsibility in the firm, the overarching responsibility rests with the marketing department as the champion for the customer. Social media is today’s most transparent, engaging and interactive form of public relations. It combines the true grit of real time content with the beauty of authentic peer-to-peer communication.
Graphical Data representing Internet users in India:
In the light of above observations the present study would strive to find out the interrelationship between the socio-political fabric of the country and the communication process initiated by the social media tools. Further the study would also attempt to know the strategic moves of the political parties specially to use social media in political campaign, implications and limitations of social media in the same, whether social media may be an effective tool for it or is it only successful while being a part of a convergent system.
Importance of Social Media in Indian Politics For politician:
The coming lok sabha election is not about getting elected; it is about getting socially elected. Social media has changed the way people think, write and react but political pundits believe it has also influence the way people vote.Most of the political parties are aware of the pulse and the impulse of the public on social media timelines, which is why more and more politician are realising the importance of social media as an electoral tool. As a result, for the general election, digital strategies have become central to planning political rallies and party manifesto are no longer conspiracies of a coterie but are laid bare in the public eye, if not crowd-source to voters at large. Canvassing demand a party’s interactive presence on social platform like twitter, Facebook, You tube, Google plus. And so for anyone wanting to read the sentiment of the people, the notion of the dipstick survey has been replace by a tweetstick survey. But does social media really bridge the divide between candidates and voters? Does digital democracy have the power to change political fortunes? What makes for a winning political strategy and just how is social media at the helm of a social churn in our country? So the analysis and interpretation of the above question will be carried out by this research , by conducting survey among the voters digitally present .
All major Indian political parties have their online presence through social media networks like Facebook and Twitter. Social media for Politics can be for advertisements, geographic targeting, fundraising, and mobilising people. Social media gives the opportunity for everyone to participate, interact in the social media election campaigns and also become political activists. It also gives them more information about the candidates and therefore helps in choosing them wisely. Politicians are also becoming tech savvy in order to attract this particular group of people and social media channels are the perfect way to be connected. For the 2014 General elections, every political party participating set 2-5% of its election budget for spending on social media. It was observed that AAP and BJP were fighting against each other on social media but the Congress party realised its importance quite late.
Social Media- A Way to reach out youth.
One of the important components for most candidates is to tap into the millennial demographics on social networks. Millennials( Generation Y) are the majority users of all popular social media channels. For example, among the Internet users, the total percentage of Facebook users is 72% of which 82 % of them are within the age group of 18-29. This fact can help candidates target the millennials. If a candidate can have an impact on this age group, they are most likely to share the message with others in their networks. When candidates share their message supported with photographs and videos, it makes them memorable to this audience. The goal is to influence these young voters and also to get their friends to vote.
Two major elements which of Social media to be analysed:
A. Facebook: Indian Election a major Event for not only India but for whole world. With the changing trends it is estimated that now the youth following social sites will decide the future of candidates. The urban development rate is growing day by day; which increases the number of Facebook followers. It is said that Facebook will provide a new voter bank for politician. Candidate and a Party which could leave its impression on Facebook have definitely seen the positive results. This explains need for well-defined strategy specially designed for social media to make their campaigns more effective.
B. Twitter: Twitter had its own ‘Tweeter Election’ for election 2014. 56 million election-related Tweets were gathered till when election ended. Each of the poll days saw between 5.4 lakh and 8.2 lakh election-related Tweets. The tweeter results shows that the most popular parties and candidates were AamAadmiParty’s Arvind Kejriwal, BJP4India’s Narendra Modi, and Rahul Gandhi from INCIndia and the most conversation about them.
Data of previous Elections- 16th Lok Sabha Election, 2014
It is quite difficult to predict the extent of the impact of Social media on Indian Election system because it is still new to the Indian Politics. If it used as a mere campaign tool, it might not be very effective in the long term. But if used effectively for active citizen engagement and as a platform to share the latest decisions made by the Government, social media will show positive results for future Indian elections. Through this study………………………………………………………..
