Impact of social media on political campaigns with a special emphasis on Indian political scenario

Abstract

During the 2008 US Presidential elections, Obama’s campaign managers used social media as a primary campaign strategy. The innovative media was used to make his presence felt and effectively market himself. Likewise, a similar approach had been employed by the Bharatiya Janata Party for Narendra Modi, their prime ministerial candidate in the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections. With the advent of technological development, new methodologies are being used to tap into social media data for building and running political campaigns. Furthermore, social media is used to reach out to potential voters, especially youth, for agenda expansion and capturing votes