Aam Aadmi Party planned online for success offline

NEW DELHI: Even on social media, Aam Aadmi Party was different, often out-of-the-box . When Arvind Kejriwal’s party wanted people to stop donating money for the elections, they announced it on Twitter. They got NRIs to leave video messages of support on YouTube. The social media contribution to AAP’s path-breaking performance can’t be discounted, experts say.

Social media watchers say the success of their online campaign lies in getting people to act offline—something not many “online movements” can boast of. “I wouldn’t credit social media alone. But AAP had a purpose and were talking of real issues. They could channelize the online conversation offline ,” says Karthik Srinivasan, a communications professional from Bangalore. Political cartoonist Sudhir Tailang agrees. “It was a simple campaign. Social media was just one part of it,” he says.

Tailang, active on social media channels says the party “outsmarted” its competitors. “Right from its inception, they used social media smartly. They realized its power from the Anna Hazare movement. This happened when UPA was being seen as a force that wanted to muzzle voices on social media with arrests and censorship,” he says, adding he believes Delhi’s youth vote contributed fundamentally to AAP’s vote share.