Usage and impact of entertaining UGC in the online electoral engagement in Punjab

Pages: 1820-1823
Vibhor Mohan (School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh)

This paper analyses the usage and impact of new media in e-politics with the focus on entertaining political videos introduced during the Punjab assembly elections in 2017 and the trend continued in the Lok Sabha polls in 2019. The videos went viral, making political parties adopt what started in the form of user-generated content (UGC). The trend can be seen in light of the uses and gratification theory. It turned out that the 18-25 year age cohort was a section of voters most attracted to these entertaining videos. The findings are significant in supporting the view that online campaigns can rekindle hope of drawing politically disinterested young voters into the political discourse and thus strengthen e-politics. But even those who watched the videos with witty political satire of sheer spoof with face swap on popular film clips, however, felt that the serious political message gets lost in the process. This entertaining format of creative communication, therefore, is more suited for reinforcing political messages already conveyed or as mere spoofs on rivals. Political campaigns efforts need to spare a thought for adding elements to catch the attention of the younger lot in better packaging of messages.