Is social media a boon or a curse to politics?
There were times when information used to take days if not months to reach people. But with the internet, information is now being delivered within seconds. As Stephen Hawking said, “ We’re all connected by Internet, like neurons in a giant brain.” Now people all over the globe are just a click away from reaching out to each other. There are no geographical boundaries to get connected.
Internet has 40.7 Crore users who are above 18 years old in India. That’s nearly one in two voters in the entire nation.
People of different interests use different social media platforms to get connected. Friends and families mostly get connected on Facebook, Whats App etc and professionals get connected on Linkedin, Twitter etc. These social media platforms help to build and strengthen relationships among people. This is where social media can intersect with politics. Politics is all about building a relationship with people.
Social media 10 years ago was just a place to post photos and to get connected with family and friends. But with technological advances, people are using social media to interact about the news, politics etc. Hence politicians can use social media as a platform to reach out to the public by bypassing traditional media.
Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc are transforming the way the politicians interact with people. A decade ago, none of the political parties used to use social media for campaigning. But now it has totally changed. Social media is creating an impact on a leaders career by connecting leaders with followers on a one-to-one basis.
As politicians, they can use social media to interact with people, give out information, share principles etc . The more information people get, the more people bond with you. They must also be extremely careful while using social media. In this virtual world, people are closely knitted together and one wrong move can change the decision- making of the follower.
“I have one major problem with the internet: It’s full of liars.” – John Lydon
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It’s a human tendency that people believe whatever is shared on social media . And people are so easily connected with each other that anything or everything can go viral on social media. It’s not just that fake news go viral, but even the reality can go viral. That’s why it is very important as political leaders to choose what to share and what not to.
There are instances when social media accounts of leaders are hacked or even fake accounts are created to defame them. Social media channels are trying very hard to reduce these cases and create a safe environment for everyone. A regulatory authority has been put into place to regulate the information and misinformation’s that are being shared on social media. They have been totally successful in it.
In this digital age, Social Media is a very important tool for leaders to build a relationship with their followers. Using it, leaders can reach more audiences in a short period of time. Keeping these things in mind, social media has its own pros and cons. People can easily be deceived on social media with false information being shared.
Online is old news. Online in social media is today’s news…
Social Media is not a subset of internet. Social Media is the internet.
Even though social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Whats app etc are in place, these platforms are not specifically designed for politics. These platforms have their own target audience. MyLeaders.in is a new age tech startup looking to provide an unbiased platform for political leaders to share their political portfolio, principles, proposals etc. Its core aim is to make the truth self-evident.
As followers, Are you afraid to share your opinions publicly? Then, MyLeaders.in is the platform which allows you to cast your opinions, share problems anonymously. MyLeaders is truly a transparent platform that helps citizens to raise their issues and get solution to the issues instantly. MyLeaders helps politicians to fight against the misinformation that are shared by their rivals.
The coming years are going to be very interesting and incredibly disruptive as social media is catching pace in politics. It is important for all political parties to get it right now.