Gen Z turns social media, Instagram into a new political public squares

With the success of the students' protest over the NEET paper leak, Instagram has emerged as a new platform for political discourse. While social media platforms such as YouTube, X and Facebook have significant reach across the country, Instagram has become the new go-to place for political discourse.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the Cabinet meeting on Friday, advised his Cabinet colleagues to engage with the youth on Instagram. He instructed ministers to actively use Instagram to promote the work done by the government.

Just before that, late on Thursday night, PM Modi posted a video on Instagram talking about reforms to check paper leaks. The video crossed 300 million views within 24 hours, making a global record. His own profile gained 1.1 million new followers overnight, taking the total to 104 million followers. Modi followed it up with a second post on Friday night. The timing of these posts was between 11.30 PM and 12.00 AM, keeping in mind that the new generation scrolls through Instagram posts just before going to bed.


The impact of Instagram among the Gen Z population can be understood through CJP. The Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), formed by Abhijit Dipke, used Instagram to amplify the student protest demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. CJP formed its Instagram account on May 16 and within days crossed 14 million followers, much higher than the 9.5 million followers of the BJP.

The account became more active after May 21, when the 'X' account of the CJP was taken down on the request of the Indian government.

Presently, the CJP handle has 26.8 million followers, with its founder Abhijit Dipke having 4.7 million followers. On average, the videos posted by CJP get 3.3 lakh likes.

The videos of the student protest were widely shared on Instagram, which became a social public square for the movement. Gen Z, which prefers Instagram's short-video and reel format over time-consuming content, was writing slogans, making posters and memes, and sharing videos of the protest across the country.