It would be pertinent to mention that the number of social media users in the country will reach 80 million by the middle of this year, according to industry estimates. That may not sound like much as compared to an electorate estimated at 800 million, but the reach of social media goes far beyond the users themselves.
There are broadly five different types of social media which include collaborative projects (for example Wikipedia), blogs and micro blogs (Twitter), content communities (YouTube), social networking sites (Facebook) and virtual game worlds (Apps).
All major political parties have been using social networking sites as part of their campaign strategy, particularly to woo the young voters and propagating agenda and policies. In the recent Delhi Assembly polls, the Aam Aadmi Party had used Facebook and Twitter in a big way to draw support for itself. The propaganda war is being fought by political parties through social networking sites. Industry experts estimate that each social media user influences three more people in their household in metropolitan cities. According to a study, the outcome of lok Sabha polls in at least 150 out of 543 constituencies would be expected to be determined by Facebook and Twitter users. There are examples of how online terminology is shaping public discourse.