Anything is possible in love and war, and ‘elections'. Political parties and candidates can go to any extent to lure public in order to get their votes.
Where on ground, they do not leave a mile uncovered, on net, no less than another world; they pay whatever it requires to get visibility and attention.
For instance, in the poll season, the advertising costs on Facebook went up by around four times, as the parties rat-raced against each other to get visibility.
A large amount of political content was noticed by Facebook users on their respective pages especially in the last two months before Delhi elections. These came from ‘boosted posts' which is a mild alternate for advertised content provided by Facebook.
Clients use a “boost'' to ensure their content reaches a wider audience. If the user likes it, FB charges money from the clients. Digital media experts who have worked with candidates say that rates peaked just before voting day on February 7 and have dropped since then.
Alok Sharma, Director of Solutions Faktory, told in an interview to Times of India daily that till November if in a budget of Rs 100, 110-112 likes were possible then closer to the poll date i.e. from 4th to 6th of February, the cost rose to as much as 6.50-7.50 per like which means only 12-15 likes in the same budget of R. 100.
However, post polls, the same has again gone down to Rs 3-3.50 per like. Apparently, his firm was involved in social media promotion of candidates in Delhi assembly and Lok Sabha polls.
When spoken to AAP's FB expert Abhinav Budhiraja, he told to the daily, “The advertising rates were about four times higher just days before the polls.'' He pointed out that with AAP's budget constraints, the party could use paid “boosts'' only in the last two days for the final push. “But we made up by pumping FB with content of up to 60 posts a day to ensure organic growth. The reach for AAP's national page for instance grew from 4 million to 17 million in 30 days. In comparison, BJP's page had only 12 posts a day but we could see their content was circulated widely”.
He said that this is not possible without having paid for it.
Although Facebook refused to divulge specifics of Delhi polls or any other individual usage however, one of its spokesperson said that there is always an increase in conversations around any large event like World Cup or Valentine's Day.
Hence, a similar activity was noticed during Delhi elections also with people talking about it on the social platform.
Use of social media platforms has become a norm in the last two years. Where, according to surveys, AAP has showed higher number of online mentions, BJP is not far behind.
