It is safe to say that Political Campaigns have gone digital in the 2014 Elections itself. The dominant portion of the audience received positive news about the Prime Ministerial candidate on social media and other digital platforms which was a great influence. The role of digital campaigning in the winning of the party that is currently in power cannot be ignored.
Since then, Indian media has gone massive changes and we witnessed the rapid shift from satellite to the digital world. What we currently are observing in the social media promotion of political ideas is a result of that shift. Even regional parties are now campaigning online concurrently to campaigning directly. The fact that India has the largest youth percentage is known to every individual. And it is now obvious that the majority of them now hold a Smart device that in one way or another connects them to the online world.
Source: http://blog.freedocast.com/live-streaming-playing-game-changing-role-indian-general-elections-2019/
In a way, this is an added advantage to the political parties since reaching an audience that can help change the system has become frantically easy. But there is a disadvantage lurking in the shadows. The disadvantage of misinformation that can confuse the audience that is on the edge and this sect of the audience are what decides the future of a candidate. Since there are forces that genuinely try to mislead the population with bad information about the candidate and since there is no way of verifying the information it can lead to the voter making a bad choice directly leading to the failure of a potential candidate.
This flood of misinformation cannot be avoided since neither the authorities nor the party candidates can actually control the information on the internet. So, even an image that endorses a particular candidate comes out first, an image emphasizing his failures might gain more reach if more people believe it. Websites even allow paid campaigning to improve the reach which can greatly vary the end result. Both Images and offline videos fall into this category which makes them both a liability more than a powerful tool.
Then how can a candidate reach his audience without his message getting twisted and tampered?
This is where live streaming helps. It can become one of the most powerful tools at times when every information can be easily tampered. Political candidates can use direct live streaming to reach the audience on social media. Be it a massive party gathering, or a minor press meet, or an interview to make people better understand the leader/ parties’ motives, or Live Streaming Government Meetings to increase transparency, live streaming is your best bet.
Though Mainstream media covers most of these events, it is possible that the users might be unable to turn on the television and watch the entire event given their busy lives. And, if there is a piece of breaking news that involves better news than the event, the channels might switch to showing that instead of covering the event live.
Political parties have been trying to live stream events to social media using the live options in Facebook, Instagram etc. But these live streams usually involve using a Smartphone camera instead of a professional camera feed. The video and audio quality will be at their lowest and can make the audience lose interest within a few minutes of going live.
The solution to this is the usage of live streaming devices and platforms like Freedocast that let you air professional video camera feed directly to the live audience. While the device lets you stream both audio and video at a High Resolution, the platform lets the streamers to broadcast the video live to more than one social media platform simultaneously reducing the effort by more than half. Freedocast platform lets the campaigners promote their own sign by including their official logo on the stream. The availability of features like scrolling text enhances the clarity of the message.
Since the majority of voters are active in social media, the live broadcast can be promoted accordingly to reach most of them increasing their involvement. Live broadcasts carry another advantage which is making sure the customers are getting the right message. One cannot modify or tamper with the message in live streams which enhances the chances of leaders creating the right influence on their audience.
The devices are easy to operate too. All it takes is the device and the input from an audio/video source. Depending on the bandwidth necessary, a subscription to the platform is taken which gives access to the device and the platform’s features through an easily operated App.
The usage of live streaming devices is currently at the base of its evolution and so, whichever party update itself and makes the best use of it can get ahead of others easily. Check out our other articles that lets you better understand the benefits of live streaming in government and other sectors. The “How to” section can help you gain a better insight into the modus operandi of the device and the platform.
