#DelhiDecides on Twitter

By
Thursday, 12 February 2015

There’s nothing like an Indian election to set Twitter aflutter. The win for the @AamAadmiParty in the Delhi state election this week proved that yet again as voters, leaders and influencers Tweeted throughout this historic event. Every opinion, candidate concession and result expressed on Twitter drove the public imagination and conversation.

Here are a few Tweets that illustrate the vibrant conversation occurring:

The maps put out by our data science team give you a view of how Twitter conversations about the Delhi state elections ebbed and flowed – not only in the capital but across India and the world. Millions of elections-related Tweets lit up these maps. Take a look at this timelapse of the last week, starting from polling day on 7 February to counting day on 10 February:

Delhi view

#DelhiDecides on Twitter

International view

#DelhiDecides on Twitter

Click each map to play the video. These maps visualise Twitter conversation around the chief ministerial candidates: @AamAadmiParty’s @ArvindKejriwal, @BJP4India’s @KiranBedi and @INCIndia’s @AyayMaken.

The Twitter data from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. IST on counting day (10 February) also reveals a very interesting story:

#DelhiDecides on TwitterThe #AAP win clocked a tally of over 350,000 Tweets with a Tweets per minute (TPM) peak of 940 Tweets at 10.30 a.m. IST. This was about the time that it became obvious that the #AAP was heading for a landslide win and @Narendramodi confirmed on Twitter that the BJP had conceded the elections.

#DelhiDecides on TwitterThe BJP registered over 280,000 Tweets with a TPM peak of 794 Tweets at 11.30 a.m. IST. With the BJP looking likely to win fewer than seven seats at this point, its ability to form a legitimate opposition party was being called in to question.

#DelhiDecides on TwitterThe Congress Party washout saw over 120,000 Tweets with a TPM peak of 364 Tweets at 10.30 a.m. IST as its fate was also sealed along with that of the BJP.

Not only did Twitter show the pulse of the people; we were also able to bring you some exclusive scenes via Twitter Mirror that captured touching moments from the @AamAadmiParty headquarters. We also saw gracious concessions as well as victory proclamations.

Indian news organizations and media partners continued to innovate to make Twitter the default second screen for polling and counting day. Web and print outlets used Twitter tools to source and visualise Twitter data.

Partners like @TimesNow, @HeadlinesToday, @Ibnlive, @NDTV, @HtTweets, @IndianExpress & @ANI_News continued established best practices like live-Tweeting, use of video Tweets and Vines. Several partners even pioneered new Twitter integrations that made for immersive and interactive election coverage.

On counting day (10 February), people who Tweeted to @NDTV with the #DelhiResults hashtag could get real-time election results in response. These response Tweets contained a media-rich infographic showing users the latest information.

Once again, all the drama unfolded on Twitter in an extraordinary journey for Indian democracy. Thanks for coming along for the ride!