Influence+of+social+media+and+technology+on+India+election+2014



Gregory Samuels LAC 100C April 22nd, 2014

India General Election 2014 Impact of Social Media and Technology

India’s general election of 2014 is going to be the biggest election in India’s history. It is also the longest and priciest election in India’s history. This is their 16th election and it is being influenced by technology in a major way. From social media to electronic voting machines, technology is playing a huge role in connecting the voters to the campaigns. The use of other technological features likes satellites and mobile devices are in high usage during this exciting time in India.

One of the Candidates of India’s elections is Narendra Modi, the leader of India's opposition party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He has exactly 3.68million followers on twitter. His party has generated over 69 million page views on Google plus and has 12 million likes on Facebook. Just by looking at those numbers you can see that Modi has a strong presence on social media. The use of social media is an effective tool for amplifying a political message of a candidate and also winning voters over. Not only will it encourage people to actually go out and vote, but it will allow political discussions and debates in a public or private forum.

There is still more people that can be reached using social media. India has over 100 million Facebook users and most of them are active accounts. A big chunk of these users are young adults ranging from the ages of 18-19. The young people are vital to the election. If you can reach the young people and help them believe in your campaign, they have the power and ability to spread your message by word of mouth. You can never underestimate the power of social media.

Another technological aspect of the 2014 election in India is the electronic voting machines (EVM). The electronic voting machine brings many positive benefits to the election. One benefit is that it can record a maximum of 3840 votes, which is sufficient for a polling station, as they typically have no more than 1400 voters assigned. It will also be easier to transport the EVMs compared to ballot boxes, because as EVMs are lighter, portable and come with polypropylene carrying cases. The vote counting is very fast and the result can be declared within 2 to 3 hours as compared to 30–40 hours, on an average, under the ballot-paper system. In countries like India, where illiteracy is still a factor, illiterate people find EVMs easier than ballot paper system, where one has to put the voting stamp on the symbol of the candidate of his/her choice, fold it first vertically and then horizontally, and put it into the ballot box. In EVMs, the voter has to simply press the blue button against the candidate and symbol of his choice and the vote is recorded. This technology has brought something new and much needed to the election.

There are still many people that still think that social media and its effect is hard to gage. According to CNBC, Rahul Bajoria, an economist at Barclays said, “it's difficult to tell how effective social media would be in getting people out to vote, it's clearly an effective tool for amplifying a political message.” I agree with him. If there is a single person who is in a household on social media, they can receive a political message online and if they like it, they can tell their family members in their home or even send it to others online. There are many times when I myself read something interesting and passed it along to friends online or even show my parents at home. This will lead to them telling their friends and it keeps on transferring from person to person.

A CNN article stated that in February, Modi showed up on a giant screen across tea stalls in the country, with a beloved Indian staple in his hand -- a cup of tea. This was BJP's "Chai Pe Charcha" (discussion over tea) campaign, where satellite and mobile technologies were used to host live interactions with people. The candidates are trying to connect with the general population to give a view as if they have the best interest of them in mind and are in tune with the culture. They also want to paint a picture as if they are listening to the needs of the people and can be easily accessible. It’s a great marketing tactic. Politicians want to change the way they interact with the public. Some campaigns are using apps for internal communication and relaying party updates.

Google is also helping all political parties with their online strategy by organizing weekly hangouts with politicians. In the past, India's political class mostly interacted with the public only through campaign trails, mass rallies and media interviews. They now want to engage with first time voters and inspire different age groups to go out and vote. According to Time Magazine, 150 million people will be voting for the first time. This can also be accredited to the impact of social media and technology. Sandeep Menon, director of marketing at Google India said "We have over half a million pledges so far and they are coming from all parts of India." This shows the progress that can be linked right back to social media and technology.

India has been making huge advances in many aspects including the ones covered in this paper. They used social media and technology to bring about change in India. People now can express themselves any way they want to and now they have many outlets to do so. They now have information at their fingertips to help them make a decision on who they would like to lead their country.

[]
 * Sources**

[]

[]

http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/04/world/infographic-india-by-the-numbers/