JAIPUR, July 3 (IANS): The Rajasthan government has announced offering Rs 5,000 worth of advertising to social media influencers in the state in the wake of the upcoming assembly elections.
A notice issued by the Department of Information and Public Relations states that any influencer with more than 10,000 followers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube can have ads from ₹10,000 to ₹5,000 per month.
Officials said DIPR will be promoting these influencers soon and the process will begin in a week or so.
DIPR has prepared four categories for influencers depending on the number of followers a six-month follower history is evaluated.
Bhupendra Singh, CEO of mFluencer, told IANS that the upcoming elections will be held through social media.
It is not a new phenomenon. The 2014 and 2019 elections were also contested via social media. Now, in 2024, social media influencers will play an important role. After the IT cell, you may see a separate ‘influencer cell’ within the periphery in the coming years,” Singh told IANS.
He said earlier political parties attracted Bollywood stars, TV celebrities and sportsmen and campaigned during elections. The same has shifted to social media influencers now the main reason is their follower base and audiences.
He said that not only the Rajasthan Congress government but the BJP also plans to attract comedians, bhajan singers, vloggers, dancers and influencers with a huge following online.
“The aim is to give a boost in next year’s Lok Sabha election campaign, as well as the assembly’s upcoming polls,” Singh told IANS.
He said the BJP is looking beyond its current ideological sympathizers, to courting public-access social media icons and promoting the work being done by the Narendra Modi-led government.
Singh said that today every party wants to connect with social media influencers because majority of young people no longer watch TV channels but spend more time on social media watching YouTube or OTT reels or videos.
“Political parties want to reach a larger audience, especially young people, through these influencers,” he said.
Singh said India has 240 million+ Instagram users and 252 million+ YouTube users. The average Indian spends around 2.36 hours per day on social media.
“Engaging with social media influencers is the best way to reach such a large audience within a short period of time, hence this change in direction,” Singh said.
– Jans
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