10 Indian and American Politicians who are Pros at using Social Media

10 Indian and American Politicians who are Pros at using Social Media


From Facebook to Instagram, social media is increasing at a rate higher than the economy. Its expanding its reach to the life of each and every individual connecting him with his loved ones as well as keeping him up-to-date with the latest happening around the globe. In such a scenario, social media can be used to preach absolutely anything and reach almost any audience.

This very mantra has been used by politicians throughout India and America to muster support towards their campaign in order to win the race i.e. the elections. In a hit or miss situations, while some have multiplied their support, others have simply gone unnoticed. Consider these politicians for example-

1. Narendra Modi

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Apart from his progressionist agenda, what contributed heavily towards the winning of the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi is his presence on social media. Not only does he have 8.92M followers on twitter and 26M likes on Facebook, he is one of the only politicians around the globe to use Instagram with 231k followers.

His team uses all of these platforms effectively by writing eye-catching posts on Facebook and Twitter about his views and actions as well as posting pictures of him from his tours and with leading personalities around the globe. Since nothing about his work remains hidden from any of his three accounts, this makes Mr. Modi a pro at using social media.

2. Barack Obama

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The battle between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama was won by Obama and that was by replacing TV, radio, MTV with Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and Reddit. He also has an Instagram account run by Organizing for Action.

His team created more than 10 Facebook pages centred around the main points of his campaign and spent $643,000 on Facebook advertising from their campaign budget. Similarly on Twitter, he tweets to gain support from his personality account (@BarackObama) and introduce legislations from his presidential account (@WhiteHouse).

He has 3.5M and 51.7M followers on Instagram and Twitter respectively and 44M likes on Facebook titling him as the true hero of Social Media.

3. Mitt Romney

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No one can forget the social media face-off of 2012 between the then presidential candidates of Unites States, Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. While Barack Obama went on to win the battle, Mitt Romney wasn’t far behind. A study conducted by Socialbaker suggests that the engagement rates for Romney were much higher than that of Obama. His team focussed more on quality growth of the supporters than simply a net growth.

He has 1.61M followers and 11M likes on Facebook making him and his team more popular on social media than off it.

 4. Sushma Swaraj

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Sushma Swaraj, the current Foreign Minister of India, is not only one of the few ministers of the Indian government using social media to keep their people updated but also the most followed Foreign Minister on Twitter. With over 2.02m followers on Twitter and 164k likes on Facebook, both of accounts are an instant update on the relations of India with other nations as well as her speeches and actions.

She refrains from putting forward any staunching comments and keeps it just professional enough to be followed by millions of people.

 5. Arun Jaitley

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Currently the Minister of Finance, Minister of Corporate Affairs and Minister of Information and Broadcasting of India, Arun Jaitley is often searched on the internet for his outspoken blog written on every issue that concerns the country. He has 1.38m followers on Twitter and 162k likes on Facebook. He has effectively utilised these platforms to update his supporters on his undertakings and actions as well as draw support for his campaign.

 6. Hilary Clinton

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Always urging governments to allow unrestricted use of media and the internet, the former Secretary of State of the United States, Hilary Clinton, has used social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook to bridge the gap between her and the people of her country. This can be substantiated simply by looking at the description of her Twitter account: “Wife, mom, lawyer, women & kids advocate, FLOAR, FLOTUS, US Senator, SecState, author, dog owner, hair icon, pantsuit aficionado, glass ceiling cracker, TBD…”

She is one of the only politicians to use her Twitter handle to provide an insight to the people on her personal life. Because of this, she has attained 2.56M followers on Twitter.

 7. Shashi Tharoor

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Engaging and controversial. Two words that perfectly describe the social media presence established by the former Minister of State for Human Resource Development of India, Shashi Tharoor. His twitter presence lets out every opinion that Tharoor has in his mind, from updating his people about his latest actions to talking about his latest writing.

With 32k likes on Facebook and 2.63m followers on twitter, he defines use of social media by politicians.

 8. Bill Clinton

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With people posting photos with Clinton or selfies of themselves in him the background, United States’ former President Bill Clinton is one of the most famous personalities on social media and around the world. While he is busy travelling across the globe, his team makes sure that the people are updated exactly with where he has been and what he has been doing. From posts on photos and videos to appeals to volunteer and support, Bill Clinton has 286k likes on Facebook and 2.7M followers on Twitter.

 9. Aditya Thackrey

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The youngest of the Shiv Sena family, Aditya Thackrey is taking the party to a new level and that new level is that of social media. He is known for his extremely popular twitter and facebook account with over 171k and 10k followers respectively. Commonly referred to as a “twitterati”, Aditya Thackrey uses the platform to voice his opinions, express his gratitude as well as his displeasure.

He is the young generation of this party, connecting to his people in the most modern forms of media!

 10. Ron Paul

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Although Obama’s social media campaign is the most popular one, Ron Paul who is is a former Republican Congressman is known as the first politician to run a campaign truly based out of social media to garner more and more support for his candidature.

He has over 132k likes on Facebook and is also known for authoring several articles available on the his website, Voices of Liberty. In a research conducted by Pew Research Centre shows that Ron Paul has received more favourable environment on Twitter than any other Republican party member. Also, back in 2012, he earned first place in a weekly survey of social media use by members of US congress by media and technology company OhMyGov.

Note: This list is not in an order of ranking.