You must hand it to our politicians. Once every five years they have to battle it out and they don’t hesitate to do so. Electoral campaigning is gruelling and there is no alternative to it. And you must hand it to our electoral system – it demands this of our political class almost with the rigour of a workout. They need to sweat it out to gain the fruits of office. It is in this scenario that a new trend seems to be emerging – that of digital campaigning. And in the present elections, this medium seems to be as much invested in by all parties as the physical campaigning is.
The stakes are of course high, but then, so is the battling spirit. Our politicians may travel in the best comfort and stay in the best hotels, or they may just jet it to a location and get back, but once they are in the electoral fray, it is very much the grind – heat, dust, crowds, endless speeches, noise – let us face it, most of us would give all of this a miss, given a chance. And all the elements of conventional electioneering are still around – posters, wall signs, bunting, public meetings, door-to-door visits and advertising in media.
Social media is a different beast, and our political class seems to be very savvy with it too. Thus, the campaigns are different depending on the nature of the social medium. On YouTube for instance, the advertisements are of a longer format and relatively more dignified. The messages are based on performance, or the lack of it. What is interesting is that there is plenty of humour employed and that seems to be the hook. Moreover it is of the clean variety, relying on satire as the principal tool. The cleaner campaigning is also probably because advertisements on YouTube are similar to print and electronic media – they have to be released by an advertiser who needs to adhere to certain norms.
On social media of a shorter viewing duration such as X (formerly Twitter), Instagram or WhatsApp, the reels sadly are of a different quality. Prone as these media are to influencers and also anonymous IT cells, the messaging is different. Many are just short of slanderous and several others plainly below the belt. The posters here, unlike in YouTube, can get away under the cloak of anonymity. Instagram and X also carry comments below each post, and these get flooded by those of one political colour or the other.
In an era where print is clearly on its way out, it seems the digital media has taken over. Even if the statistics on its impact may not be all that clear, it offers the benefit of direct messaging, and our political class sees much benefit in it. In terms of costs too, this may be much cheaper and more effective. Not that costs would really matter, unless you have been out of office for long.
Will we see a day when real campaigning will be replaced entirely by reel? That may be a long while off but the journey towards it has begun. And in a largely urbanised state like ours, the trend may catch on much faster. It is just that unlike other media, this is instantaneous in its dissemination – going viral can be both positive and negative. In print or for that matter TV, carefully crafted lighting, scripting and speaking can work wonders but in the cell phone era, the slightest grimace, a wardrobe malfunction, a cracking of a public mask, a reduction in civility (may be in the face of extreme provocation) can all cause havoc. Social media therefore demands its own discipline and mastering it can be tricky.