Candidates woo youth via social media

There was a time when O. Panneerselvam was the blue-eyed boy of the Internet. Though not quite active now, the former politician would post Facebook updates on a regular basis. With the RK Nagar by-election almost around the corner, he seems to have picked up steam once again. He recently put up a post saying, “Dear Youngsters, I am happy to interact with you all through social media. Looking forward to work with you for the development of Tamil Nadu” This post received over 2,000 ‘likes’ and multiple shares. 

A closer look at the social media presence of the candidates and the parties reveals that there has been little noise. However, the BJP, that is known for its systematic and aggressive social media campaigning is strategising its move and experts feel it will be executed in the next couple of days.

“We have a data base of around 2 lakh voters from RK Nagar constituency. We will be reaching out to them through various means. We have also formed WhatsApp groups. We also have strategies to reach out to college students and when it comes to Facebook, we have created pages based on the wards,” said Mahesh Kumar B State Co Convenor, BJP IT & Social Media. Film personality Gangai Amaran is the BJP representative. 

There are pages like ‘RK Nagar by-poll’ and ‘GangaiAmaran4RKNagar’ but since there is no blue tick to them, they are considered unofficial. However, regular updates are seen there.

Meanwhile, trolls and meme-makers have enough content to keep themselves busy. Recently a troll page uploaded a clip of the song “Vangali Kadale Enai Onnaka Vidale from Manathil Urudhi Vendum, where Suhasini (shown as RK Nagar) is being wooed by three suitors- Sathyaraj is Marudhuganesh, Vijayakanth is Madhusudhanan and Rajinikanth is TTV Dinakaran. 

People have different opinions about the influence of social media in politics but some believe that it has made youngsters aware of what’s happening. “Most of us hardly get to understand the clout and charisma of the local candidate in any elections, and now when boiled down to just a single constituency, it is impressive how people have pulled up their socks through social media to increase the awareness and necessity of giving equal focus to the local bodies,” says Balaji Vijayaraghavan, a social media specialist.