We May Disagree, but We All Love the BJP: Populists’ Networks and Targeting Opportunities on Twitter

Abstract

With the rise of social media, politicians face new challenges and opportunities in presenting their messages online to large and diverse constituencies. Populists especially have capitalized on social media to achieve wide electoral success. This paper explores populists’ opportunities to target their constituencies online using the case of India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Twitter. First, the structure of the BJP’s network on Twitter is analyzed through social network analysis. Second, a content analysis is used to examine the messages of important accounts in different networks clusters. The findings suggest the ruling party in India has the opportunity to employ microtargeting to siloed clusters within its network of supporters. This practice could damage democratic discourse by reducing the possibility of debate in the public square.