Its virtual presence is at par, if not more, than the BJP or the Congress

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) keeps its social media machinery well-oiled. With a strength of almost 8,000 members, volunteers and party leaders constantly ‘connecting’ with the people, nothing goes unnoticed by the team.

From the very beginning AAP realised the potential of social media in moulding public perception and has used every digital means available to reach out to the masses.

Compared to the BJP, AAP is smaller in size but their presence on social media is at par or, even, more than the saffron party. “The difference between us and Bhakts (BJP volunteers/supporters) is that we never abuse on social media,” said Abhinav Budhiraja, AAP’s Social Media Head.

In the party’s social media office, the popular thinking is: 'Sachin Tendulkar was not just one man playing at the crease. It was his team, coach, family and physiotherapists, put together. Similarly, it is not just Arvind Kejriwal, but our efforts on social networking sites that make him what he is'.

The party is active on Whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter. It has a dedicated website, a mobile app called Mango, and volunteers are coming up with short movies after the success of ‘Mufflerman’.

On February 3, 2015, AAP’s Facebook page was the most talked about in the world. To make that happen, Mr. Budhiraja explained that the content was ‘very very’ closely monitored.

All the 50 points listed in AAP's agenda, before the 2015 elections, were simplified and there impact cleearly explained. A team of seven, mainly college students and executives, filtered each write-up and then upload.ed it. “We called ourselves ‘simplifiers’. The key was to make each write-up interesting. Nothing goes viral on Facebook unless it is relatable and written in simple language yet well-articulated.”

While Facebook page is mainly to hold discussions and explain the policies of their government in Delhi, their Twitter handle focuses on rights of people and issues affecting them.

The team initiates two ‘# topics’ on Twitter daily, and 15 to 20 tweets from the party's official handle are uploaded. Many times the topics they raise on Twitter start trending even with 300 tweets and retweets. Citing an example, Mr. Budhiraja said that their ‘#MakeIndiaFirst’ topic was at number three on trending list just after 313 tweets and retweets. “We try not to use AAP in these #topics.”