Can social media turn the tables in the Lok Sabha elections 2014?, Lok Sabha elections 2014,social media,Twitter,Congress,Aam Aadmi Party,Delhi Assembly elections 2013

Can social media turn the tables in the Lok Sabha elections 2014?

Discussion on elections is a hot topic on social media. Almost everyday, either a political party or a politician has trended on Twitter. As per a study done by social business intelligence Simplify 360, 24 per cent of actual voters are on social media. Meanwhile, 31 per cent of Twitter users in India have actually read a tweet on politics.

In 2009, the Congress party won the Lok Sabha elections with a vote share of only 28.6 per cent of all the votes casted. So, the presence of 24 per cent of Indian voters on social media is really big to turn the tables in the forthcoming elections.

The recently held Delhi Assembly elections have certainly triggered many people to talk on elections. Whether it is the above par performance of the Aam Aadmi Party or the BJP, social media has become a key platform for people to raise their voice. The Delhi elections have fuelled the pace of people talking on elections, making NCT as the top region, followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka.

The study further states that 2.6 crore Indians have read tweets on elections from their timeline over the past one month (December 2013). There are likely chances that this voting population can be influenced by social media discussions. Thirty-one per cent of the Indian population, who are on Twitter, have read a tweet on the Indian elections over the past one month.

Meanwhile, peer recommendations on social media are very powerful. Ninety per cent of consumers trust peer recommendations on social media (Source: www.socialnomics.net). These recommendations can influence a voter’s decision on whether or not to support a party/ politician.

Source: exchange4media

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