A year or two ago I was never interested in politics. But suddenly I was excited about the Anna Hazare movement and later on rise of AAP, Gujarat model and about Narendra Modi (now Prime Minister of India). How that happen? I got this answer while reading The Big Connect by Shaili Chopra.
I was the part of the social media like Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Hangout through which Modi and AAP reached me and millions of other youngsters. Even one member of a family actively engaged in the social media will influence the opinions of other fence sitters about casting vote and choosing the right candidate and party. This was happening around me and I’m sure Modi wave started in this way.
Well, I was able to form such a coherent opinion only after reading the book The Big Connect. It is about how and how much social media has an impact on various current events in the country. And to what extent social media was behind the rise of AAP and Modi wave. It is a book which every reader will instantly connect with.
The book is good in patches. Especially she did quite a research about the involvement of BJP, AAP and Congress in social media in the election 2014. According to Shaili, BJP and Narendra Modi were most active in online campaigning while Congress and Rahul Gandhi were hesitant and reluctant while the new AAP party was the social media wonder.
She has discussed in details about the role social media played in the rise of APP. It was AAP which used social media to the utmost for creating awareness as well as for raising funds and donations. The rise of AAP showed the power of social media.
But the narrative could have been more gripping and paragraphs could have been a wee shorter. Many a time, she wrote the same thing in different words. Also the information which are their in the book is also available on net though they are all scattered and Shaili has done the job of bringing all of them under the umbrella.
Verdict: It could be good one time read if you are curious about the role of social media in current politics.
