~~Hindi most popular language for news in social media in UP~~

~~61% respondents said that political social media strategies impact their voting preferences~~

The upcoming Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh brings about major changes in the way voters make use of their social media accounts.

According to a recent study, out of 1094 participants surveyed, 35% of the respondents said that they use Facebook to read about state politics which is the highest among other social media platforms including Instagram, Youtube, and Twitter with 14%, 17% and 6% respectively.

The rest 28% of respondents preferred all of the above platforms to know what’s happening around the four corners of the state.  Among this share, 42% of respondents consume political news in Hindi, 34% in English and 24% preferred both languages.

“The Upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh is a big event for India as over 250 million people are hooked onto their TV sets and mobile phones to follow every update regularly. Our survey has shown interesting trends in this space, and going ahead we believe more and more voters will switch to different social media platforms to keep track of the political parties, leaders and their social media campaigns,” said Mr. Sahil Chopra, Founder & CEO- iCubesWire.

On the question of whether or not the social media strategy by political parties impact voting preferences of the voters in UP, 61% of social media users said that the different social media strategies by political parties impact their voting preferences while 19% denied it. Amidst pandemic, political parties have shifted their focus to digital campaigns and virtual rallies which have led to this gradual change among voters in their voting preferences pattern.

The elections are also a major discussion point among Indian voters on social media.

• 68% of respondents said they engage with politicians on social media platforms
• 85% of respondents see advertisements related to political leaders as well while indicating a solid following of the popular politicians.
• 31% of respondents watch news on social media while 27% read it. The rest 42% consume the news in both videos as well as in writing format.
• When asked on what basis these voters assess a political candidate, 26% said they watch it on TV, 15% read articles in newspapers,  26% preferred research on all social media platforms while 33% consider all of the above before making a choice.
• 82% of respondents said they keep an eye on political candidates’ social media once the election gets over. Among them, 79% also check the number of followers, likes, subscribers on a politicians’ social media account.
• Surprisingly, 80% of voters think political advertising on social media platforms is a good way to keep the voters engaged and inclined towards a political party whereas the other 18% think that it’s not the case.

This survey commissioned by iCubesWire was conducted in the month of January 2022 to understand the social media sentiments of Indian voters and was done over three weeks across Uttar Pradesh.