Digital Realm Is The Campaigning Platform For Parties!

The biggest democracy in the world is gearing up for the Lok Sabha elections which decides the Union government. The first phase was concluded successfully and the remaining phases would be held soon. The elections have a big importance this time as they can shape the political landscape.

The X factor in the elections this time is that social media is playing a big role. It is no wonder that social media is guiding the campaign and other activities. Almost every party is using social media and its reach to bank on them and social media influencers are getting importance.

Earlier we used to see leaders giving interviews to channels, but it's the Podcasts trend and the leaders are taking part in podcasts. Even the Union Cabinet Ministers are not an exemption from this.

The meetings and events are streamed online so that it is easily taken to the public. The availability of the internet can be cited as the big reason for this. India has the 3rd cheapest Internet rates in the world which is a huge factor here.

BJP is often created for exploring the reach of social media. In the 2014 campaign this was evident and the Modi wave was shown on social media. Cut to 2024, the same is happening as it appears that there is no big change and not changed over the ten years.

The only change is that the other parties are also trying to ace the social media trend. In the 2014 campaign, BJP was at the top in using social media and cut to 2024, the other parties are also trying to do the same.

However, BJP is at the top in terms of social media popularity and subscribers. BJP and Narendra Modi have the most number of followers or subscribers. No leader is close to Modi when it comes to followers across the platforms.

The money the parties spent on social media is also quite high. An estimation says that the influencer market in India by the end of elections would be a massive $289 million and it jumps to $400 million which is a big jump.The social media influencers play a key role in this and it is said that per a paid post they charge between 50k to one lakh and in some cases they charge 5 lakh.

Earlier only the BJP used to banked high on social media popularity. But the other parties are also doing the same. We have seen this with the Bharat Jodo Yatra. The whole yatra was streamed on social media and Youtube with a good number of views.

Considering all of this, many wonder of the social media platforms would be a deciding factor in the campaign and the elections. The reach of social media is such that the parties can reach out to the rural audiences as there are over 400 million users there.