Facebook launches TalksLive with political leaders ahead of elections

FB users may ask direct questions to Narendra Modi, Arvind Kejriwal among others

Social networking giant Facebook, which claims to have over 93 million users in India, has launched a new initiative called TalksLive where users of the website would be able to directly ask questions to some key national and regional political leaders like Narendra Modi, Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav and Lalu Prasad Yadav ahead of the 2014 elections.

The multi-platform, multi-screen effort has been launched in partnership with newslaundry.com and NDTV, and would be opening up questions for these candidates today on the website.

“Social engagement is at the core of our platform. In politics and elections, it is also key to influencing voting behaviors and organising opinion,” Ankhi Das, Public Policy Director – India & South Asia at Facebook said. “We have always been focused on making sure that we give people the power to share, and to make the world more open and connected. This and the opportunity to engage actively and regularly with constituents have led campaign teams and leaders to use the medium, making Facebook a core part of the political infrastructure in the country.”

Interestingly, at the time of the last Lok Sabha elections in 2009, Facebook hardly have any users in India, but over the past five years it has emerged as one of the leading platforms for social networking in the country. It is accessed by users of all age groups in India.

Additionally, social media is being used as an effective tool by most political parties to reach out to voters, and especially to connect with the youth in the country ahead of the 16th Lok Sabha elections.

According to an independent 2013 study by IRIS Knowledge Foundation found, 150 constituencies in the country would be impacted by the Facebook vote.