Spoofs trump issues on social media

CHENNAI: Muthuvel Ganesh, 24, who is employed at a mall in Velachery, knows the names of only three political leaders in TN ­ Vijayakanth, Jayalalithaa and Stalin, in that order. “I am a big fan of Captain. I enjoy his comedy videos. He says and does funny things, says the first-time voter.
Sushila Rangaswami, 33, a techie with a private firm, says she keeps seeing DMK and AIADMK ads while browsing the web, but hasn't seen any other political content lately.
Every major party in the state has jumped onto the social media bandwagon in the last six months, posting regular updates on their achievements, poll promises and campaign rallies. Ironically, the only content getting liked and shared and going viral is comic memes, spoof videos and satire. As a result, youngsters across the state know more about DMDK chief Vijayakanth's many gaffes than they do about his party's poll manifesto.
Digital marketing expert Manveer Singh Malhi says that social media content has to cater to the target audience to become popular. “The most active user group on social media is the 18-24 year group, they make up 60% of the user base. So content has to be tailor-made for this category.”
Social media consultant Kiruba Shankar feels that TN parties have not understood how to use social media.
“Unfortunately our leaders view social media like any other medium print or TV .They feel if you spend a lot and bombard users with ads, that serves the purpose. They may get exposure, but will not achieve the connect.”
“The powers that be have zero clue of how social media functions though they are spending money advertising on it,” he said.
“Attention span of youngsters is very low 30 seconds, maximum. YouTube or Face book content needs to be relevant to the 18-35 category. They may not be interested in farm loans, for example, but perhaps in employment related topics,” he said. Humour, he added, helps push a point though.
“Self-deprecatory humour, like Barack Obama's retirement spoof video, works very well. But we don't have it in our blood to be self-deprecatory,” he said.
Social media worked for Prime Minister Narendra Modi because he was trying to reach a national audience, feels Malhi. “Regional leaders are trying to reach voters only in their state, so the target audience is far less. And the number of active social media users in Chennai, for example, is far less than in Mumbai,” he says.