Political Communication in the Digital Age: Facebook and the 2019 Indian General Election

Abstract

This paper discusses how social media, Facebook in this case, has influenced the political debate of the 2019 Indian General Election. Being anchored at the two largest national parties-the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress (INC)-this research analyzes the posts from these parties on Facebook over a period of 15 days by using qualitative content analysis. The methods the parties applied in representing issues and the type of contents they developed were analyzed. These findings suggest that BJP concentrated majorly on wins and promises for the future with 74.2% of its posts, while INC was extremely critical of the ruling government since 25.6% of its content aimed at BJP's governance in its posts. Interestingly, though INC posted more, BJP relied completely on video content to connect with their audience. Differences in these approaches reveal that the BJP intended to project its governance record and instill confidence, whereas the INC focused on spreading dissent and, hence, change. The study also points out that as social media becomes more deeply integrated into the campaign strategies, voters may use them as a direct line of communication rather than using traditional media more central to campaign strategies. It also reveals how carefully crafted content can influence public opinion and sway electoral results. The importance of this research lies, in part, in increasing dependability on digital platforms for political communication, consonant with broader global trends. However, this research is limited by the obvious subjectivity that qualitative analysis carries and the relatively short timescale; further research would therefore need to take longitudinal approaches and account for broader contextual factors. Doing so, the investigation draws attention to these dynamics and thus provides important perspectives on shifting landscapes of political communication within the digital age.