India’s Politicians Go Online to Attract Voters
India is the second most populous country in the world. But only about 10% of the country's 1.2 billion people have access to the internet. Still, India is the third largest internet market globally. Online access is on the rise and IT experts say that by 2020 India will have more people connected to the Internet than the USA.
Politicians in the country have found out that communicating with the population online is necessary to get their message across, especially to younger voters. In addition, general elections are being held next year, so politicians are becoming more active.
Prime Minister Singh, for example, informs citizens on Twitter about what his office is doing. The government is planning on introducing social media campaigns to all of their departments. Apart from official websites, department officials will open up Facebook and Twitter accounts to the public.
Most politicians say they will keep appearing on TV and in the print media, but they are stepping up their digital appearances. As voting approaches there will be more politics on the Internet than in the last elections.
India's youth welcomes the digital campaign. In contrast to other countries, young Indians are interested in politics but they get most of their information from online sources.
Related Topics
Words
- access = entry; the right to use
- account =when you are allowed to enter a website with a name and password
- apart from = in addition to, also
- appear = to be seen
- approach = to come nearer
- attract = appeal to , get, pull towards you
- billion = a thousand million
- campaign = actions in which you want to achieve something
- citizen = person who works in a country and has rights there
- department = here: section of the government
- especially = above all
- general election = event in which all the people in a country vote for a parliament and a Prime Minister
- get your message across = make a point; make sure that the people understand what you mean
- global = worldwide
- in addition = also
- in contrast to = compared with
- IT = information technology
- necessary = very important
- official = a person who has a high position in a company or organization
- on the rise = go up
- politician = person who works in the government or in politics
- populous = with many people
- print media = newspapers and magazines
- public = people in general
- source = place where something comes form
- step up = increase
- youth = young people