Social Media and Political Participation A Study of The People of Dakshina Kannada

Social media is a term used to describe a variety of Web-based platforms, applications and technologies that enable people to socially interact with one another online. Some of the popular social media sites and its applications include Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Flickr, blogs and other sites that have content based on user participation and user generated content. The number of netizens in India is growing with every passing day since the Internet revolution in the 1990s. The power and wide reach of social media to reach out to millions of people at the same time, has made it a very powerful tool for political usage. Social media has reshaped the way politicians and citizens are interacting with one another about economic, social and political issues. It helps to communicate and reach citizens faster and has also provided an opportunity to encourage citizen's participation in the democratic process by communicating directly with the decision makers, sharing and posting opinions, organizing protests and creating support for political parties. This study analyses the impact of social media in political participation of the people in Dakshina Kannada district, located on the coastal belt of south Indian state of Karnataka. The district is considered to be educationally and technologically advanced. The study demonstrates how social media adaptation in terms of discussion, sharing and posting of information has become a prominent feature of political and civic life for most people in this district.