election campaign case study

A Study on Use of Social Networking sites during Lok Sabha Elections-2014 by the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP)

Daxina Pathak*

Abstract In a modern democracy, social networking sites have been used by governments to involve citizens in decision-making, and by civil society to engage people in specific issues. However social networking sites can also be used to broaden political participation by helping citizens to communicate with their representatives and with each other. Arguably the 2014 elections have been very different from the previous ones; never before have elections created so much buzz especially among the youngsters. For wooing the youngsters BJP and other political parties are borrowing strategies employed by U.S. President Barack Obama's 2012 presidential campaign, with the use of Thunderclap, an online platform which helps to make content viral. This study is an attempt to know that how BJP created a buzz in this election season through social networking sites. Key Words: Social networking Site, Lok Sabha election Introduction This is the first social media election in the country. Taking a leaf from US President Barack Obama's presidential campaigns, India's parties are using tools to crunch the insurmountable amounts of information social media generates - what's known as big data analytics. So we can say India is where the US was in 2008. This season political parties in the country have left no stone unturned to grab the attention of the youth. In the past few weeks, I have not been able to ignore the social networking sites which have become pioneering platform for politicians to build a strong bond with their voters. The 2014 elections are particularly expected to have a high social media impact considering the rise of social media into mainstream politics. Being a part of the young generation, I can say that five years back, these platforms were hardly a place to discuss the movements and developments of Lok Sabha agendas. On the majorly used social networking sites, Facebook and Twitter, millions of users are following and participating in conversations related to politics. This indicates the level of involvement online users are showcasing when it comes to 2014 elections. A recent report has pegged the total expenditure on campaigns on digital platforms at a whopping Rs. 400-500 crore, of the Rs 4,000-5,000 crore total A&P spend of political parties. The target audience is predictably the youth, many of them first-time voters. My study is on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which earmarked 2-5% of their election budgets for social media, according to an October 2013 study by IAMAI and Mumbai-based market researcher IMRB International. The crazy has been increased more as the smart phone market has increased.

*Research Scholar

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Altius Shodh Journal of Management & Commerce

Main objectives of the study: The specific objectives of the study were:

1. To find out the role of Social Networking Sites (SNSs) in campaigning by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP);

2. To find out that how BJP creating a larger than life image of their leaders through SNSs;

3. To know how BJP is making people concentrating on only one person according to their marketing strategy on SSNs;

4. What people think about this digital campaigning: fruitful or wasteful;

About the terms:

1. Social Networking Services (SNSs) – A platform to build social network or social relation among people who, for example, share interests, activities, backgrounds or real-life connections. A social network service consists of a representation of each user (often a profile), his social links, and a variety of additional services. Social networking is web-based services that allow individuals to create a public profile, to create a list of users with whom to share connection, and view and cross the connections within the system. Social network sites are varied and they incorporate new information and communication tools such as, mobile connectivity, photo/video/sharing and blogging.

2. Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) – The Bharatiya Janata Party is one of the two major parties in the Indian political system. BJP established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in parliament and in the various state assemblies. The other being the Indian National Congress.

3. Lok Sabha Election-2014 - A general election is taking place in nine phases, the longest election in the country's history, from 7 April to 12 May 2014 to constitute the 16th Lok Sabha in India. Voting will take place in all 543 parliamentary constituencies of the India to elect members of parliament in the Lok Sabha. The result of this election will be declared on 16 May 2014, before the 15th Lok Sabha completes its constitutional mandate on 31 May 2014.

Research Methodology

For the survey of the primary data questionnaire method was adopted. For that a questionnaire was prepared on the basis of the objective of the proposed study and was mailed online to the target population under the study. Total 100 questionnaires were mailed and 87 questionnaires were received back after filling by the targeted people online. I used the online survey software “Qualtrics”.

I also used Facebook for collecting the views of people for my research work. Here is my Facebook wall.

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Popular social networking sites (SNSs) in India

A recent study by Assocham states that technology giants like Google and social networking websites like Twitter and Facebook will see their India revenue soaring this year (of course due to general elections). The spending has reached such proportions that the Election Commission has made it mandatory for all the political parties to seek its clearance for ad insertions on social media sites. Let’s have a look on the popular SNSs. 1. Facebook.com

Of course Facebook has changed language of social networking Sites. To cash in on the general elections buzz in the country, Facebook has introduced 'I'm a voter' feature on its page. Users over the age of 18 will see a message at the top of their Facebook News Feed on their mobile handsets, reminding them that voting has started for the elections. The Election Day message and 'I'm a Voter' button will be visible to Facebook users only on the day of polling in their areas. On Facebook, BJP (the main official party account) leads with 3.4 million fans as against Congress 2.5 million and AAP’s 1.8 million.

2. Twitter.com

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The country’s largest software firm, TCS, has tied up with social media giant Twitter to launch an app, iElect, to help users gain social insights into the Lok Sabha polls.

3. Linkedin.com LinkedIn is a social networking website for people in professional occupations. As we know that this site is more useful for job professionals but I observed that political parties are doing their job very smartly though this online platform. We can see BJP regularly updating on Linkedin.

4. Google+ Google+, we can say it as a new version of Orkut. As a Party AAP had largest set of engagement on Google +, while Narendra Modi was a most popular politician on this site.

5. Pinterest.com Pinterest is a pinboard-style photo-sharing website that allows users to create and manage theme-based image and videos. BJP is branding on Pinterest.

Statistics: Let's now look at the battle purely through the numbers. More that 814 million voters, including over 23 million in the 18-19 year age group, will

exercise their franchise in the world's largest democracy. India has the third-largest internet base globally with more than 238 million users.

As per a report by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), of the approximately Rs 4,000-5,000 crore total advertisement and publicity spend, the digital platforms can expect to garner at least Rs 400-500 crore. According to Assocham, Political parties typically spend around 30% of their poll expenditure, estimated at Rs 15,000 crore, on advertising and publicity. Of this amount, 15-20% is spent on the emerging digital marketing.

On Twitter AAP is the surprising leader with 5.17 million followers as against BJP at 417,000 and the Congress lagging at 163,000 lakh. It is a different picture when one compares the top leaders. The direct battle is between Kejriwal and Modi.

BJP’s Prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is the world's second most popular leader on Facebook with 12 million fans. The pecking order repeats in the Twitter world with Modi having 3.6 million followers as against Kejriwal's 1.6 million.

Studies say that overall, only 16% of Indians say that they use the internet at least occasionally or own a smartphone. Of these internet users, 51% say they use social networking sites such as Facebook, Orkut and Twitter.

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Once Indians are on a social network, they tend to use them for staying in touch with family and friends (90% of social networking users) and sharing views about music and movies (87%). They do not use these sites as often for sharing views about politics (35%). However, there are similar patterns among emerging developing nations.

Even smaller shares of mobile phone owners use the devices to access a social networking site (9%) or to get political news and information (8%). It is likely that these technologies will become more integrated into the vast democratic process of an Indian election.

According to the Live Real Time Election Tracker, only in 15 days there are over 10,000 mentions on Twitter, combining all political parties.

A study by IAMAI and Mumbai-based market researcher IMRB International in October 2013 says that political parties have taken note of, with major contenders like the ruling Congress party and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) earmarking 2-5% of their election budgets for social media.

The stats say that the use of social media and technology is an important part of the political parties’ strategy in vying for power.

Many political parties have beefed up their online presence as a result.

Data till April 6, 2014

Social Media presence of candidate of BJP in first four phases of Lok Sabha polls -2014

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Main motto of exercising Social Networking Sites (SNSs): Wooing the young and first time voters

Another positive facet of the election activity lies in inspiring and motivating the youth to vote in the coming elections. The peer recommendations play a vital role in influencing youngsters and this has ensured that a massive number of first time voters will participate in the 2014 elections. More than 800 million voters will be below the age of 25 according to a survey by the time the elections arrive. Operation Black Dot is for bringing about a shift in the way we look at voting. By breaking down politics and making it more engaging and inclusive, they want to make it easier to exercise our constitutional right. It was launched to get young and new voters on board through various social media activities. Here are some things that I believe will change the game for the upcoming 2014 General Elections:

BJP is projecting a larger than life image of their leaders through SNSs

Social Media is a public platform and since there are no regulatory guidelines or credible cross checking tactics, BJP is leaving no stone unturned while boosting the image of their own party. This is creating a somewhat larger than life image of the leaders. The evident number of likes, followers, connects on their social properties, shows who is more popular.

Hashtags debut on a daily basis

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On a daily basis, various competing hash-tags like #NaMoInUdhampur, #KejriwalInVaranasi are making a debut and becoming the topic of core conversation for the day.

We have all been a witness to Obama's winning strategies in 2012 using social media. Following his footsteps, Indian politicians seem to have dived head strong into social media conversations. Their constant activities are aimed towards spreading awareness and having a direct connection with users. They are constantly a part of the trending topics section on Twitter. Regular Twitter users tend to get pulled into such conversations.

Google Hangouts BJP is using Google Hangout to address various questions about party movements. Google hangouts are encouraging real time feedback from the public. Such hangouts are great for effective reach and reinstate the fact that politicians are available for the masses through advanced tech support. In limited time period this allows to political parties to reach voters all across the country without having to actually travel to those places. Digital audience is not the audience that will go on the field to attend a public rally of a politician, but will be most comfortable sitting in front of their systems and interacting directly with their leaders.

Online influencers will start influencing the masses

The online community is an influential community. They have a command over their respective following and hold the potential to influence party preferences. It is the online community that is looked up to when offline political discussions happen. They are known to be wired in and hence more aware, that leads to the masses being influenced. In fact social networking sites are even influencing conventional media. News stories are often created out of the tweets of politician and most often they are the spicier ones. Politicians are using social media to influence this digital community indirectly influencing the mass. BJP integrated YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Google Hangouts and various microsites to reach out to these influencers in this election.

Social Media is creeping into mainstream media's political discussions News Channels or Print media have started including, rather creating some key hash-tags which create a hurricane of tweets on Twitter, during the debate hour and go on for a few days. SNSs have totally seeped into mainstream media and are given the status of a secondary public platform, reversing the concept of second screen, to promote discussions on such public platforms. Videos, images, important actions/activities are discussed and promoted on these social sites through dedicated pages and accounts of the parties.

The new rules of the

Election Commission

Social media has crept in so deep into the political framework that the election commission is bound to demand transparency in the advertising budgets of these parties on various websites. Recently it was made mandatory for parties to submit their advertising

Whether or not, social media will be a game changer in the 2014 Elections is yet to be revealed.

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expenditure to the election commission to maintain a record and avoid malpractices. Various guidelines have been rolled out with regards to advertisements by political parties. Prominent leaders of BJP on Social networking sites (SNSs): The BJP in particular has been effectively using social media and Twitter in particular to reach out to supporters and mobilize support for its candidates. And its Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has been placing particular emphasis on the medium for a while now. In addition to the fact that Modi has over 3.5 million Twitter followers, he has also been asking state BJP units to take both Twitter and Facebook seriously. BJP taking part in Google+ Hangouts, televised interviews organised by Facebook and using the Facebook-owned smart phone messaging app WhatsApp to connect with millions of tech-savvy urban voters.

Narendra Modi has been dominating newsprint, airtime and the digital media for quite some time now. Modi's strategy of using social media along with traditional election campaigning tools ensures the cameras are on him. Here are some of modern-day tools that Modi has used to keep the spotlight firmly on him.

TWITTER PIONEER Narendra Modi was one the first Indian politicians to reach out to people in an organised manner on Twitter. Modi joined Twitter in January 2009 and his number of followers now stands at more than 3.5 million, which is way ahead of any other leader. On April Fools' Day, three hashtags were trending on Twitter: #Pappudiwas (attacking Rahul), #Kejriwaldiwas (attacking Kejriwal) and #Modiyapa (attacking Modi).

SUPER-LIKED ON FACEBOOK BJP used Facebook as a strategy for their promotional programme. Modi has approx. 11,245,296 likes on Facebook. His fans have dedicated many pages to him on the social networking website, for instance 'I want Narendra Modi as Next PM of India', 'I Support Narendra Modi' and 'Narendra Modi For PM'. On the other side, we can see Fekuexpress that makes fun of Modi. Taking a dig at Modi's tagline, "Abki baar Modi sarkar", his opponents have verbalized "Abki baar Mukesh sarkar", linking him to Mukesh Ambani.

MODI 3D EVERYWHERE In December 2012, Modi addressed 53 locations across Gujarat simultaneously. A 3D avatar stood in for him because he could not, of course, be in all places at the same time. This way he pioneered an extensive tour of his state and got into the prestigious Guinness Book of World Record.

GAMES ON NARENDRA MODI AND OTHER LEADERS: BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is also making his presence felt on Android phones. A mobile game on Narendra Modi called 'Modi run' is available on Google Play store. The game is based on the classic 'Mario' series where Modi is seen crossing hurdles and collecting diamonds at different stages. Interestingly, the developer has named the stages after Indian states. The aim of the game is to reach the ballot and count the votes in BJP's ballot box in the backdrop of Parliament. The average age of users playing these apps are between 18 years to

Ballot box games

'Modi run'

'Mario' series

'Kursi cricket'

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30 years. To be on the safer side, the developer has posted the disclaimer, "This game is not endorsed by Modi or BJP." Another game called 'Kursi cricket', also available on Google play store, is as famous among teenagers as Modi run. This game offers users to choose from three characters - Arvind Kejriwal, Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi. The user's score goes to the character they have selected.

GOOGLE HANGOUT Modi was the first Indian politician to use the Google+ Hangout application for group video chats. In August 2012, he answered questions from people across the world, with the live interaction broadcast on YouTube and Modi's Google+ page.

BLOGGER MODI Through his blog, Modi has managed to offer his views and even share, for the first time, his feelings about the 2002 Gujarat riots under his watch as CM. "I was shaken to the core. 'Grief', 'Sadness', 'Misery', 'Pain', 'Anguish', 'Agony' - mere words could not capture the absolute emptiness one felt on witnessing such inhumanity," in December last year about the riots, which hurt his wider acceptability.

CHAI PE CHARCHA The BJP's Chai pe Charcha campaign centered on Modi saw him interacting live with people using internet and DTH technology. The Election Commission, however, wasn't impressed after the poll dates were announced and the model code of conduct kicked in.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE considering how aggressively Modi campaigning online, it is no surprise that he has several websites — one his own and many from his fans. He is linked with almost every social networking website. NAMO MERCHANDISE Modi also has T-shirts, mugs, a store, fireworks, tea stalls and more named after him, which make the NaMo brand stronger. There's also an online store dubbed 'The NaMo Store' that sells merchandise inspired by him.

Major findings of the study

In the above conducted study it was observed that BJP is all aware of respondents from all disciplines and of course aware of the SNSs and have account on them. It was found that 59 of respondents were male respondents and 28 of respondents were female respondents. The study found that majority of the respondents i.e. 47.81% were between the age group of 20-30 years. The Facebook was the most popular SNSs used by all categories of respondents followed by Twitter; Majority of the respondents’ i.e.73.33% use Mobiles for accessing SNSs followed by PCs; The main purpose of using SNSs were found entertainment not sharing the political views. An important finding of this study was that the use of SNSs is time consuming and people said yes for the question that it is affordable for any promotional activity. Majority of the respondents (i.e. 50%) said that SNSs are not a true dipstick. It’s only a dipstick of the elite. The majority of the respondents (47.33%) believed that BJP projected their leader’s larger than life image through SNSs. Wooing the young and first time voters is another positive facet of the election activity lies in inspiring and motivating the youth to vote in the coming elections. The peer

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recommendations play a vital role in influencing youngsters and this has ensured that a massive number of first time voters will participate in the 2014 elections.

Conclusion

BJP enjoyed a higher positive momentum through SNSs. The present study was focus on the use of Social Networking Sites by Political Party (BJP) in Lok Sabha election – 2014 in India. BJP leaders keep themselves updated by surfing internet, posting of statuses, share personal views at international online platform. In the present era, SNSs have become one of the largest online platforms in the world for sharing real time information. This generation is a significant amount interested in politics. According to my research some people also stated that there is never a guarantee of what would translate into votes. Overall, around 10% of the total population in the country has access to social media. In that case, many people under my study said that spending crores of rupees on this platform alone does not really make much of a sense. My study says that social media is youth-centric. As per my survey, people between 21 and 35 years of age are most active on the social media. So we can say that Social media is not just about frivolous 'likes' and 'posts'. There are the people who are helping enhance discussions. For Future elections the medium will be the heavily-invested area for a political party.

Bibliography: 1.

1. http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/allaboutnarendramodi/narendramodi-how-the-bjp-leader-keeps-trending/article1-1193664.aspx

2. http://www.firstpost.com/politics/bjps-decision-to-boycott-ndtv-shows-its-seriousness-about-social-media-1426865.html?utm_source=ref_article

3. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-04-06/news/48908610_1_social-media-it-cell-fekuexpress

4. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/04/08/in-india-few-use-social-media-to-share-political-views/

5. Zywica and Danowski, 2008, p.2.

6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharatiya_Janata_Party

7. http://www.firstpost.com/politics/elections-2014-tcs-ties-up-with-twitter-to-create-ielect-social-tracker-1480445.html

8. http://www.slideshare.net/Webfluenzintelsys/campaign-analysis-of-social-media-strategy-bjp-vs-aap-vs-congress

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Here is the questionnaire:

1. Have you ever seen BJP on social networking sites?

Yes No

2. If yes, then on which Social Networking Site, have you seen most of the BJP's election advertisements/promotions?

Facebook Twitter Google+ Hangouts Orkut Pinterest.com My space Apna cricle Other

3. How frequently you saw BJP on internet during this election period?

Never Seen Rarely Often Always

4. Do you think that BJP chosen the Social Networking Site (SNSs) vastly in Lok Sabha Election 2014?

Yes No Can't Say

5. E-campaigning is emerged as one of the best way of election campaigning, what you think?

Yes, of-course it is affordable and covers mass people No, it is waste, since only some people have access of internet in India Can't say

6. Do you think through Social Networking Sites (SNS), a larger than life image has been created for their Prime Minister Candidate 'Narendra Modi ' in Lok Sabha Election 2014?

Yes No Can't Say

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7. Do you use Social Networking Site (SNSs) to share your political views? Yes No

8. Have you ever visited the official website of the BJP's Prime Minister's candidate Narendra Modi's Official website (English or Urdu Language version)?

Yes Will try No Will never try Other (specify)

9. Have you ever gone through the 'Blog' of the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi or any similar Blog?

Yes

No

And one descriptive question

10. Do you think BJP has become successful in creating and using Social Networking Sites (SNSs) for their Lok Sabha election 2014 campaign?

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election campaign case study

Government & Nonprofit

use of social networking

social media election

rise of social media

high social media impact

youngsters bjp

lok sabha elections

bharatiya janata party

season political parties