Since 2014, social media has become an important weapon for election campaigns, shifting the battleground from physical to digital platforms. In this election season, the king of social media remains to be determined as online campaigns increasingly reveal public sentiment and ground realities.
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This question can be answered by analyzing the growth of social media pages and accounts belonging to BJP, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, and Trinamool Congress (TMC).
Which Party Dominates The Social Media
The analysis indicates that BJP continues to dominate social media, with its growth appearing to overshadow that of other parties. However, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party maintained a lead over BJP in terms of adding new users on Instagram and YouTube.
Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by Mamata Banerjee, holds the position of the third-largest party in the Lok Sabha. However, its social media presence is comparatively minimal compared to other parties. Among the leaders of major parties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi leads the pack in social media engagement.
Role Of X In This 2024 Election
Elon Musk’s platform, formerly known as Twitter and now X, has become a significant factor for political parties and this election. Throughout this year, followers of every party have experienced continuous growth. However, Aam Aadmi Party saw a decrease of about 1200 followers in January.
On X, BJP consistently gained 1.2 lakh followers monthly in January and February, with a surge to 1.7 lakh new followers in March. According to analytics firm Social Blade, the Congress Party’s Instagram followers increased by 59 thousand in January, 70 thousand in February, and over 1.08 lakh in March. Similarly, TMC gained 1,600 followers in January, 1,800 in February, and 6,400 in March.
The Aam Aadmi Party has achieved remarkable success on YouTube, consistently gaining new subscribers. In contrast, the BJP’s YouTube channel has experienced a continuous decline in subscribers.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party added 5.9 lakh subscribers to its YouTube channel in three months, with a significant increase of more than 3.6 lakh subscribers in March, coinciding with Kejriwal’s arrest by the ED in an alleged liquor scam in Delhi.
During the same period, BJP’s YouTube channel gained 5.3 lakh subscribers, while Congress’s channel gained 5 lakh subscribers. TMC’s channel saw a modest increase of only 28 thousand subscribers.
BJP Faces Decline
Despite the decline in subscribers, videos released on BJP’s YouTube channel garnered millions of views, totaling over 43 crore views in three months. Following closely, Aam Aadmi Party’s videos received 30.78 crore views, while Congress’s videos received 16.69 crore views. TMC’s YouTube channel recorded 9.3 crore views according to the data.
This time, political parties are actively conducting online campaigns on Instagram to expand their outreach to first-time voters.
A recent analysis revealed that between December 2023 and March 2024, Instagram accounted for the largest share of spending by political parties on online campaigning among Meta platforms.
In three months, Congress gained the highest number of followers on Instagram this year. Their Instagram page saw an increase of 13.2 lakh followers. BJP’s page gained 8.5 lakh followers, and Aam Aadmi Party’s page gained 2.3 lakh followers. In contrast, TMC’s Instagram page only saw an increase of 6 thousand followers.
Which Leader Dominates Social Media?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to maintain a dominant presence across all social media platforms compared to other leaders, with Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal, and Mamata Banerjee significantly trailing behind.
From January to March, PM Modi’s X account gained 26 lakh new followers, while Rahul Gandhi’s followers increased by approximately 5 lakhs. Arvind Kejriwal saw an increase of one lakh followers, and Mamata Banerjee gained 52 thousand followers during the same period.
PM Narendra Modi also stands out as the most active user on X among leaders, posting 1,365 times in three months. In comparison, Rahul Gandhi posted only 187 times, and Kejriwal posted 270 times during this period.
On Instagram, PM Modi boasts 8.8 crore followers, with an additional 52 lakh followers gained between January and March. In contrast, Rahul Gandhi gained 12 lakh followers, and Kejriwal gained 3 lakh followers during this time.
PM Modi’s popularity extends to YouTube, with his videos amassing 47.7 crore views in three months, surpassing Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal’s combined views.
Despite this, there is a positive development for the Gandhi family, as Rahul Gandhi’s YouTube channel gained 50 lakh subscribers during these three months, while PM Modi’s channel gained 2.4 lakh subscribers.
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