The Social Media Proposition: More Hype Than Substance
rgupta.substack.com
Published in The Hindu In early April, Hindu, ran a lead story on the potential of social media to decisively influence the outcome of elections in at least 160 constituencies. The story based on a research report by IRIS and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) contends that there are “160 ‘high-impact constituencies’ where the number of Facebook users exceeds the margin of victory in the last election, or constitutes 10 per cent or more of the voting population” and are thus “the newest vote-bank with the power to shape Indian politics”. It’s a simplistic proposition as admitted by the study proponents themselves and there are many obvious flaws in the theory. Nevertheless the idea has gained ground. BJP already has an organized presence online with an army of volunteers who descend on anyone who dares critique the party, and many of its party heavyweights, including Narendra Modi are active on social media. The party also recently started working on its social media “guidelines” for its volunteers and held a meet in Delhi. Congress is getting into the act slowly but ambitiously with
The Social Media Proposition: More Hype Than Substance
The Social Media Proposition: More Hype Than…
The Social Media Proposition: More Hype Than Substance
Published in The Hindu In early April, Hindu, ran a lead story on the potential of social media to decisively influence the outcome of elections in at least 160 constituencies. The story based on a research report by IRIS and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) contends that there are “160 ‘high-impact constituencies’ where the number of Facebook users exceeds the margin of victory in the last election, or constitutes 10 per cent or more of the voting population” and are thus “the newest vote-bank with the power to shape Indian politics”. It’s a simplistic proposition as admitted by the study proponents themselves and there are many obvious flaws in the theory. Nevertheless the idea has gained ground. BJP already has an organized presence online with an army of volunteers who descend on anyone who dares critique the party, and many of its party heavyweights, including Narendra Modi are active on social media. The party also recently started working on its social media “guidelines” for its volunteers and held a meet in Delhi. Congress is getting into the act slowly but ambitiously with