‘Women on social media less influenced by campaigns’

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Social media campaigns are reducing the dependence on peer influence, especially amongst female voters as social media impacts Kerala voters at engagement rates higher than that of the US, a study found. The study “Impact of social media on voting in Kerala” by principal secretary (agriculture) B Ashok, as part of his doctoral programme, finds that the state’s social media use is comparable or higher than that of the US. The ‘heavy’ use of social media (over one hour per day or four hours per week) prevalent in the state is 26%, whereas in the US it is 19%. Female use of social media is 53.1% compared to the national average of 27%.

While all candidates in 2021 assembly elections had utilized Facebook, 75% of them also used digital platform X to reach out to voters. The study was finalized after taking opinions from 1,500 voters using a questionnaire containing 45 questions, in three assembly constituencies — Vattiyoorkavu, Tripunithura and Nedumangad. Non-users of social media in Kerala are just 30% voters, who can be reached only through mass media or directly. For digital natives aged 35 years or less, more than 80% rely exclusively on digital media for political communication. Facebook is the most popular social media networking site with 56.1% use and 43% have been using it for two years or more. As much as 12.3% voters receive or send political statements through Facebook and 41% of respondents consider the opinion of their friends and families in deciding their voting choices. Only 26.7% male respondents indicated experiencing more autonomy in voting decisions after their regular use of social media, whereas 43% females confirmed the same experience.

Female voters, therefore, feel more independent of peer influence due to social media use. Maximum political participation —online and offline— has been reported in the age group of 36-45 years. The lowest activity is recorded in the age group of 18-25 years, even lower than those aged 60 years or above. The study finds that social media has become a tool which political parties cannot ignore. Meanwhile, political analysts have a different perspective. “Social media platforms have an immense potential to help a voter reach a conclusion. But unfortunately, since there is no regulation of its contents, it is used mainly for disseminating misinformation or hate campaigns. Hence, I still believe that a serious voter still depends on conventional media to reach a conclusion, and the number of voters being influenced by social media is still less,” said noted political scientist and psephologist G Gopa Kumar.