With the Lok Sabha 2014 election, Indian has witnessed a total change in the way elections are been fought; the election fight has not been limited to mere leaders and party office bearers. With the advent of social media, which facilitated every common man with social media presence to air his or her opinion; and also get educated with the details of election campaigning of various parties, their promises to voters; and also the truth against lies peddled.
Election and Social media :
Social Media presence for the political leaders has now been default mandatory; as it not only helps to connect with voters, but also provide real time information about the policy matters; on the other hand people also utilize the opportunity of real time feedback to their leaders be it on policy or other matters where action has to be taken. In India, more than once the positive usage of social media has been witnessed, where the time & distance gap between ministers and citizens have been reduced to minutes, if not seconds. One of the shining example, is Smt. Sushma Swaraj, who is at helm of providing assistance to Indians abroad and are in need of consular intervention, be it for rescue or issue of passport or Visa.
Social Media has its impact on all sphere of life, another important aspect which got challenged, is Main Stream Media. The Indian media is mostly recognized with left ideology bent, and there has been numerous cases of misreporting or fudging of news; however with vigil of social media users, the established journalist are not only forced to apologise but also correct the errors in reporting the news.
In India, we have elections every quarter, in any one part of the country, thus it is very imperative for the political parties to be on toes and in constant touch with the voters. Also with the social media, no event in the country has its limited localized effect, as the news spread far and wide, the actions of the politicians are also viewed with the magnifying glasses, which play important role during elections. While social media has facilitated the rumors peddling with ease and click of the button; the positive usage of social media is far more than the negatives. The optimum and apt use of social media not only helps the citizens to raise their voice; it also helps the politicians to be in touch with the citizens, and form the policy which are accustomed to the citizens;
In all, in current scenario, social media has been by default necessity for the politicians, as it provides systematic connect without dependency on media.
