WhatsApp, social media influencers emerge as go-to campaign mediums
New Delhi: As the country gears up for the world’s biggest electoral exercise, messaging platforms like WhatsApp and social media influencers have emerged as the go-to mediums for political parties to influence voter psychology, ad gurus and political analysts say.
In the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, political parties are extensively using social media to propagate their achievements and seek support from voters.
The BJP is trying to engage with the voters by sending them a personalised ‘Letter from the Prime Minister’ on WhatsApp which has over 500 million active users monthly in India highlighting the achievements of the Narendra Modi government and seeking feedback from voters.
The party launched the website ‘My First Vote For Modi,’ which allows visitors to pledge to vote for Modi and submit a video stating the reason behind their choice.
The website also hosts several short videos highlighting the development work done under the NDA government.
On the other hand, the Congress runs a Rahul Gandhi WhatsApp group in which the leader is said to interact with people and respond to their queries.
The circulation of WhatsApp information is monitored at the district level to ensure it reaches the masses and corrects the party’s voter base.
“Whichever political party has higher WhatsApp groups under its banner can communicate faster and better with the voters. It helps them to highlight their achievements instantly with a large user base and influence the voters by drawing parallels with the opposition,” Amitabh Tiwari, an election analyst and commentator, said.
Facebook boasts 366.9 million users according to Statistica, a data-gathering and visualisation platform.
According to the data from the Election Commission, the Bharatiya Janata Party spent a total of Rs 325 crore for media advertisement (print and electronic, bulk SMS, cable website, TV channel, etc) during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, while Congress incurred an expenditure of Rs 356 crore.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, perspective towards social media as a tool of information significantly changed, Ankit Lal,
founder of Politique Advisor and former IT Cell head of Aam Aadmi Party, said.
“Many political parties now adopt a digital-first strategy for their poll campaigns to connect with the voters who heavily depend on social media to get information.
Social media influencers have become another important medium through which parties try to influence the floating audience of those who do not vote but engage in consuming the
narratives,” he said.
