Instagram more influential among new-age voters

Hyderabad: You want to get the attention of millenials who live and breathe the web, then Instagram is the way to go. For these first-time voters, Twitter is passé and Facebook is a yawn.  But politicians and social media strategists seem not to have grasped this, because their weapons of choice to influence young voters are still Facebook and Twitter, which have lost fame among millenials who are now on Instagram 24x7.

But Union minister Smriti Irani, YSRC MLA R.K. Roja and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor are among the politicians who speak the millennial lingo on Instagram. From sharing family moments to keeping a track of the week, the two actor turned politicians are attracting people on Instagram.  Not many of the younger lot of politicians are using this platform, which is actually surprising. Even tech savvy leaders like K.T. Rama Rao and Pawan Kalyan are yet to make a debut, but TRS MP K. Kavitha and YSRC’s Vijay Sai Reddy are upping their game.  

Experts declare that the way to a millenial’s head is through their medium instead of focusing on platforms where parties get more online hits.

Mr Naresh Arora, Political Strategist and Director, DesignBoxed said, “Instagram with its large user base will definitely play a very significant role in the elections this time, but most of the parties are not really grasping this fact, since the concentration especially of opposition parties is on Facebook, although Twitter definitely has come alive. Instagram is yet to be given that kind of attention, even though its penetration is deep into rural India as well.”

So to be with-it, candidates have to be with-it although, this is not to say that those who don’t could lose, says Mr Arora.

Another expert noted that politicians have to be everything from colloquial to humorous, sassy and sharp which is not found in our country. Mr Karthik Srinivasan, independent communications consultant, said, “It makes sense for politicians to be on Instagram but content restriction is a problem as everything is through visuals. Visuals put up on Twitter and Facebook may not work on Instagram. Our politicians should be savvy on Instagram especially Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the American politician or Justin Trudeau, the Canadian PM”.

On the other hand while Jana Sena party is leading with a number of followers in Telugu speaking states, it is apparent that the BJP and Congress at the national level are at it.

Mr Arora added, “Among the parties, BJP seems to be doing relatively better than others as there is a constant effort to brush up on Instagram skills of their partymen. And, Congress President Rahul Gandhi is quite active too on the platform.