Gone are the days when politicians maintained a very formal, no-nonsense image. In the era of social media, they are no longer shying away from sharing glimpses of their personal life and lighter moments online.
Sonia Gandhi recently sent twitter abuzz with pictures of her cycling in Goa. And she’s not the only seasoned politician who’s chilled out enough to be photographed letting her hair down. Several of our other netas too are catching up with the trend.
Shashi Tharoor’s Instagram picture captioned, ‘Gosh, holding up that rock was as difficult as sustaining an MP’s burdens!
Several politicians are now actively sharing their personal life online. But what has triggered this transition? Life coach, Ravneet Gandhok says, “Social media has taken our lives by storm. Being ‘social’ is the new trend and today everybody wants to be the first to post high points of their personal and professional lives on various social platforms and let the world know about what’s happening in their life. It is not tough to accept that social media has a profound impact on the concept of a ‘personal brand’. Our lives have become increasingly more public as we all share information on a variety of networks. This transition has hit everyone — first it was the young generation and Bollywood stars spending time on Facebook, instagram and twitter, but now the craze to make the world know about oneself has spread even to politicians.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi too was recently seen cycling in Netherlands. Although the PM was on an official visit, he didn’t shy away from posting his lighter moments online.
PM Narendra Modi in Netherlands.
“This is one of the ways of maintaining your popularity. Being in a powerful position and sharing selected details of your personal life helps a lot in maintaining a likable image. Not just those in power but those wanting to win elections too are employing this strategy. It really proves useful, so we definitely advise politicians to be more open. It also evokes a sense of transparency,” says a political consultant, on condition of anonymity.
Ravneet agrees, “The prevalence of social media in politics has made elected officials and candidates for public office more accountable and accessible to voters. And the ability to publish content and broadcast it to millions of people instantaneously allows campaigns to carefully manage their candidates’ images based on rich sets of analytics in real time. Social media has helped known personalities become more renowned. Though being social has an equally negative impact, it has appeared to be a boon for those who are engaged in work where support of masses is required.”
Shashi Tharoor too was recently seen hiring a cab in Kolkata and sipping tea at a local stall. He also doesn’t shy away from sharing his personal life.
Instagram picture by Smriti Irani
Some politicians also share personal happy moments online. Rahul Gandhi recently shared a video of a dog on his Instagram and captioned it: “Namaste! My name is Pidi, I love everyone and I love my treats too- Happy Sunday.”
However, there are still many politicians who are not very active online. The political consultant, who is currently working on a regional campaign, shares, “It is only a small fraction of Indian politicians who are doing so. But on the regional level, other platforms like WhatsApp are being explored to connect with the public and some personal details from the life of politicians help them connect with the masses.” Union Minister Kiren Rijiju posted a clip of his colleague Rajyavardhan
Rathore revealing his exercise routine. Smriti Irani also posts glimpses of her life at times.
Explaining the trend, Ravneet says, “Behavioural shift has reverberating effects — not just in how we spend our time, but in how we feel about ourselves. Nowadays politicians prefer to take the route of social platforms as by doing so, they can be in touch with both masses and classes at the same time.”
But can such large sharing be considered as a kind of campaigning? Social media expert, Raju Singh Rathore says, “Being on social media itself makes one share a certain kind of image. It is an evolving space and helps people open up. So it is no surprise that some politicians are also opening up on such platforms. While a regular person might be looking forward to being liked more, politicians aim at having a bigger network. After all you are a successful politician if you have more followers and the same rule applies to their online profiles. Also, they have teams managing it.”
Rahul Gandhi’s picture on Instagram with dog Pidi.
While politicians are now tapping the many benefits of social media and sharing details from their personal life, there is also no escaping its darker side. The recent sex video of Hardik Patel was one such example. “Of course, one has to be very careful about not just sharing one’s life, but also about how they store their images and videos,” says the political consultant.
