Year after Instagram debut, PM clips draw record views

NEW DELHI: During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Denmark in May this year, his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen received the visiting Indian PM at the airport. His office later shared the moment, including pictures and short videos, captioning it with “A special start to a special visit”. The retweets and Facebook likes were in a few thousand, whereas the likes and views on Instagram were 1.7 million and 15.3 million.
The massive response on Instagram was not a one-off. In fact, the PM’s candid and short videos shared on Instagram have received record views, despite the fact that he joined the photo and video-sharing social networking site barely a year ago.

An early adopter of social media among world leaders, the PM’s expansion of his arsenal by adding Instagram has meant his ‘reels’ uploaded on the site at times surpass his posts on Twitter and Facebook in popularity, in what is seen as a testimony to his strong connect with the youth.
Amongst the other videos that went viral on Instagram are the unveiling of the National Emblem cast on the roof of the new Parliament building (3. 1 million likes, 19.8 million views) and his recent visit to Jamnagar (2. 2 million likes, 12.8 million views). The Prime Minister’s address from the Red Fort on Independence Day this year and his interaction with the artists received 3. 9 million likes and 23.7 million views.


The release of the Cheetah (translocated from Namibia) at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh and PM’s interaction with the forest guards also received a staggering 3. 6 million likes & 24,6 million views.

Equally popular were the glimpses of the commissioning INS-Vikrant with 3. 5 million likes & 25.8 million views. The one-minute vertical videos are mostly shot by a mobile camera by PM’s media team and are candid moments without any editing.

“The candid glimpses of PM’s activities and interactions with the people receiving a resounding response on Instagram indicates Modi’s charisma getting traction amongst the youth, of whom the maximum have shifted to Instagram,” an official said.