On This Election: Political Parties and The Internet

People opening most online news portals these days are greeted first with a short Ad with a picture of a party name and its candidate. These unprecedented but effective Ads just add to the growing trend of the Internet used by political parties to promote themselves.

Since second round of elections to the House of Representatives and State Assemblies are almost here, political parties have been campaigning all over Nepal.

This time, besides handing out flags and posters and visiting people, political parties are openly advertising themselves all over popular social media like Facebook and Twitter. They also have dedicated websites for their political party where one can view all the information about the party.

Most parties have social network accounts in their party name. They post their publicity posts, photos, videos where they put in their thoughts and mention their present activities and future plans. Most such mediums are free of cost and can reach out to a huge number of people which is not possible except on the Internet.

Parties can create posts that can be tailored to a specific audience or for general information. Posts can also be used to release statements on issues and handle controversies. An interesting post can go viral and connect more people to the party agenda.

Moreover, these mediums are also interactive. People are commenting their own views on the posts and even have debates among other people. They can directly reach out to the party and post their questions.

Political parties in Nepal putting Ads and contents about themselves is an interesting use of social media. We’ll find its results soon enough as the second phase of elections is only a week away.