As General Elections 2014 became more tech or rather social media savvy, how can politicians & their ardent followers ignore Twitter? Twitter, as always touted, could be one of best & fastest social media tool at disposal to reach millions of followers with just single tweet. And some of our tweeter savvy politicians have indeed done a great job, when it came to reaching followers, urging people to vote or even discoursing the party propaganda at times. I doubt, there’s hardly any single time in history of election campaign in India, had any political outfit, its leaders or even the followers devotedly followed social media like Twitter to stay tuned to what their leaders are talking (rather tweeting) about.
So here is the top view of general elections, from Twitter, on last day of voting. As election fever mounts across the country, the 9th and final round of voting has been completed yesterday. Below is a summary of all the elections-related conversations that unfolded on Twitter today, May 12, 2014 (released by Twitter Media).
1. Twitter data and trends as of 5pm, May 12, IST (over the past 24 hours)
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Total NUMBER of elections-related Tweets over the past 24 hours = 684k
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Total REACH of elections-related Tweets over the past 24 hours = 2.3 billion
2. Top 10 elections-related terms as of 5pm, May 12, IST
1. Narendra Modi = 113k
2. AAP = 78k
3. BJP = 78k
4. Varanasi = 76k
5. #AlwaysWithCongress = 35k
6. #AbkiBaar300Paar = 12k
7. Ajay Rai = 8.3k
8. polling booth – 7.8k
9. Rahul Gandhi = 5.6k
10. Vote for BJP = 5.5k
3. Elections-related topics take up 5 of top 9 Twitter Trends (as of 5pm, May 12, IST)
#Verdict2014 (discussions about the expected winner for the Indian elections)
#AlwaysWithCongress (conversations by Congress supporters)
https://twitter.com/search?q={af589cdba9d77786c8c861317dbad60bba1e2ebbf56e2ffab874a1b59fde9ce3}23AlwaysWithCongress&src=tren
Vote for BJP (conversations by BJP supporters)
Ajay Rai (Ajay Rai wore election symbol on his shirt while voting and the backlash)
West Bengal (last day of voting in West Bengal)
4. Top 5 Most ReTweeted Tweets (over the past 24 hours)
@narendramodi: My special request to the youth – go out & vote and take your family and friends along to the polling booth! (1,661 ReTweets)
https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/465669127416197121
@dipankar140: Latest buzz in Varanasi is that Kejriwal inching up. Amazing! No money, no muscle. A great case study for Sociology and Political Science (993 ReTweets)
https://twitter.com/dipankar140/status/465464522874945537
@arunjaitley: BJP’s office in Varanasi raided and only small amount of campaign material found. Why was only one Party singled out for such a raid? (941 ReTweets)
https://twitter.com/arunjaitley/status/465480118299672576
@narendramodi: All those voting in today’s phase- Have you voted? If not please go to the polling booth! Sharing my video message (802 ReTweets)
https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/465733347453304832
@bhupendrachaube: On the eve of last phase of polling; here’s my big picture. Nothing to do with any exit poll;@narendramodi will be sworn in as Pm on 16th (627 ReTweets)
https://twitter.com/bhupendrachaube/status/465529318521569282
5. Famous Personalities tweeting about the Lok Sabha election (over the past 24 hours)
@MaheshNBhatt: Elections have always been more a black box than a horse race, given the influence of local politics & the lack of credible voting analysis.
https://twitter.com/MaheshNBhatt/status/465677267633328128
@shekharkapur: One lesson from these elections. Till media and political rhetoric does not stop playing up Hindu/Muslim division, we will never be united.
https://twitter.com/shekharkapur/status/465542700029063168
@chetan_bhagat: So 4 days for a new government! Hope those who win shall remain humble and those who lose will take responsibility and not blame others.
https://twitter.com/chetan_bhagat/status/465806908994375680
@iKabirBedi: Modi spearheaded the most brilliant election campaign in India’s political history. He deserves to win spectacularly.
https://twitter.com/iKabirBedi/status/465770895143731200
6. Citizens tweeting about the Lok Sabha election (over the past 24 hours)
@O_Mohini: Dear Sonya & Rahul Gandhi, Plz dont worry…U r losing but all the #AAP leaders & workers will be #AlwaysWithCongress
https://twitter.com/O_Mohini/status/465805293872377856
@wenikihl: Voters turnout in large nos in Varanasi just to show Modi that money can buy him helicopter but not our votes. #Vote4Kejriwal #Verdict2014
https://twitter.com/wenikhil/status/465765696563974144
Be sure to visit #Election2014 Discover page, your one-stop shop for following everything politics during this Twitter election. And stay tuned at https://blog.twitter.com/india and at @TwitterIndia for additional insight, data and innovation as Twitter’s platform for live, public conversations is used throughout the Lok Sabha election.
For more information, please visit: Lok Sabha #Election2014: The View From Twitter
