Two years after the ‘Modi’fication of India, we take a look at how the current Indian Government used popular Facebook tools like Q&A, Live, Instant Articles and Notes to reach the 140 million plus monthly active users in the country.
We have seen Facebook, once a simple social media platform, branch out into a key tool for influencing the masses, marketing products and promoting brands. News is now made and read on social media portals like Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat. Connecting with people on social media is now not only an expression of personal thoughts, but also a form of propaganda for brands, celebrities, movies, startups and more. If you can name them, they will be on Facebook!
It is no surprise then, that with time, Facebook also lured in world leaders and politicians, looking to build a more “personal connect” with their audiences AKA voters. Where’s the best place to find social influencers who can make or break vote banks? Well, the answer, atleast in India, is Facebook. According to a recent study conducted by market research and business consultancy firm IMRB, Indians use Facebook, 2.4 times more than microblogging site Twitter. Hence, when the Modi Government came into power, social media, especially Facebook, played a huge role in dissemination of its digital agendas. In fact, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election campaign is one of the best examples of using the power of technology & social media to reach masses across the country.
Now, two years after the ‘Modi’fication of India, we take a look at how the Indian Government used popular Facebook tools like Q&A, Live, Instant Articles and Notes to reach the 140 million plus monthly active users in the country.
As Facebook reveals, here are some on PM Narendra Modi’s Top Posts from May 26, 2014 to May 23, 2016.
With a total number of 179,452,452 likes, shares and comments, Modi also ranks number 1 on Facebook’s list of Top Ten Performing Cabinet Ministers from May 26, 2015 to May 23. 2015. He is followed by Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh with 13,904,120 interactions. On number 3 is the former actor and now Minister of Human Resource Development, Smriti Irani, with a total of 5,800,102 interactions in the same period.
The PM’s personal website — http://www.narendramodi.in— has also gone live on Facebook’s Instant Articles. The website routinely publishes posts that detail his daily engagements along with various government schemes that he backs and rolls out.
As far as Top Videos by the Government of India are concerned, Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari ranks at number 1 with his Diwali wishes video, posted in November 2015.
The honours for the Most Engaging Post go to Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Ananth Kumar, who put up a picture with the PM, along with the Indian flag filter superimposed on it.
Top 5 Ministries by page size, interactions (likes, shares, comments) and average daily posts include, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Women & Child Development and Ministry of Finance.
We have also seen a number of initiatives rolled out by the Modi government in its 2 year tenure till now. So it’s no surprise that Make In India, Digital India and Skill India have been deemed the Top 3 Government Initiatives on Facebook. While Make In India garnered a total of 5,165,680 interactions on the social media platform, Digital India gathered 1,924,536 interactions, followed by Skill India with 304,230 interactions.
These numbers from Facebook surely shed light on the growing influence of social media in politics and government activities. We will keep sharing more such data with you guys. Until then, keep reading Digit and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook.
Data Courtesy: Facebook
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Adamya Sharma
Managing editor, Digit.in - News Junkie, Movie Buff, Tech Whizz! View Full Profile
