India+elections+2014

Konaal Kumar Language and Culture 04/21/14 Professor Yajnik Social Media has come a long way and has impacted the lives of many. As technology improves, so do Internet websites as well as the importance of them. Technology is used by almost everyone and with its never-ending improvements; it has brought its attention to the National Election Campaign in India. Before this election, India’s voting system was simple and did not revolve around technology. With this advancement, candidates are using this as an advantage to win over the hearts of the people of India. Social Media has changed the lives of many and is still searching to make improvements to make life easier for everyone. India based its country through technology and improvement in social aspects with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and many more. According to an article posted on CNN, “There are more than 200 million internet users in India. Most of them are young and mobile urban dwellers. This demographic is also socially engaged, making for the highest Twitter and Facebook usage in the world, outside of the United States.” Politicians are using technology and social media to their advantage by not only addressing their intentions or thoughts and ideas on situations, but also creating conversation with the people of the society and understanding their views on topics and situations. But, campaigning isn’t always the cheapest way to gain supporters and followers. According to an article “Media studies estimates this years total election spending to reach five billion- three times higher than the previous election in 2009.”
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Voting plays a major role in the world we live in today and has been on a massive uproar as it makes its way to India. This political event that India will be hosting this year will be known as the biggest democratic event in history. More than 814 million people will be eligible to vote to decide on the country’s 16 th government. This isn’t the only record that India will be breaking, but with the accounts of the money put into social media advertisements and media studies, Politicians will be digging deep in their pockets, as the average spending amount for this year’s elections is roughly around 4.9 billion dollars. Social Media has brought upon a significant difference in the way that India’s voting system has changed. With this added to the election ballot, it allows the younger generation to get more involved in the voting process because children are swarmed by social media so by sending out messages through these websites the younger generation is well informed about the current and past situations that their country had been going through and what it is currently going through. This will be a big step for India as a whole because India’s elections were always known as free as well as cost efficient but the main goal is to grab everyone’s attention and inform them about what is going on in the world especially the younger generation. This election will mean more to India than any other election combined in the past years because of India’s inability to improve their democracy through government actions. India’s democracy has fallen at an all-time low because what the people were promised, they were all not lived up too. According to the New York Times in an article issued about the elections in India, “ Its Constitution promises much: It guarantees essential democratic rights, including equality before the law and freedom of religion and expression. It prohibits discrimination based on religion, caste or race, and it guarantees the right to an education. The Constitution also explicitly prohibits exploitation, forced labor and child labor”. Though this was promised to the people of India, kids are working and attending schools with a poorly suited working staff and not only that, the court system is corrupted as well. According to the same article written by the New York Times, “The court system remains inefficient, with far too many cases languishing without resolution. Attacks on freedom of expression are increasingly common, with pressure and threats of the crudest kind casting a dangerous chill on the free exchange of ideas and opinions. These conditions pose serious threats to India’s open society”. Providing alternative ways for electing different candidates is necessary and the belief that social media can make this happens is a strong possibility. We as the people of our society need to do what is right for our country and India is at a point where justice needs to be served and initiation of new members of their government would help the improvement dearly.

Using social media for political campaigning has been helpful plus positive. The younger generation in our society are constantly on social media so having politicians speak their knowledge about occurring situations in our society allows kids to get a better understanding what is going on in our world. A man named Sandeep Menon who is a director of marketing at Google India said “ We want to engage with first time voters and inspire different age groups to go out and vote.” Many people do not take this seriously, but one vote can change the world and that one vote could have been yours.

Social media plays a huge role in everyone’s life and will continue to develop to help better society as a whole. India’s election of 2014 will forever go down in the history books as one of the most costly elections as well as turnout of over 814 million people. Social media does have its ups and downs in society with how they affect people and their lives but in this case I feel that it is supportive as well as being informative. The younger generation in our society does not pay much attention to what is going on in the real world and the consequences the country can serve as a whole. India’s election will definitely be an experience and could possibly turn the government in India to a positive direction.



Work Cited 1) "The Biggest Election." The New York Times. The New York Times, 11 Mar. 2014. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.

2) "India's Election: What's at Stake?" Global Public Square RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.

3) "India's Record-Breaking 2014 Elections." The Diplomat. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.

4) Khullar, Arshiya. "Politicians Slug It out in India's First Social Media Election." CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.