Narendra Modi has 700,000 followers on Twitter!
13/06/2012 13:43:15  http://news.oneindia.in/feature/2012/narendra-modi-crosses-700000-on-twitter-1017578.html

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who is among the most active politicians on social media is something that is well known across the board. Today adding another feather to his social media popularity, Modi's followers on Twitter crossed the 700,000 mark.

The pace at which Narendra Modi has been gaining popularity on Twitter is something that should be taken note of. Modi started tweeting back in 2009 and has been among the pioneers of this form of social media among Indian politicians.

Consider this- Back on 11th November 2011, Narendra Modi's Twitter followers crossed the 400,000 mark. The jump from 400,000 to 500,000 came on 3rd March 2012 and by this time Modi's Twitter page had undergone rapid transformation. He took the step of actually ‘following' select political leaders, news websites and most importantly well wishers and volunteers. Commemorating Swami Vivekananda's 150th birth anniversary, Modi even decided to Tweet a quote of Swami ji daily, a practice that will continue for an entire year. These quotes have generated a great response from the netizens.

Exactly on 1st May 2012 when Gujarat celebrated its Foundation Day, Modi's Twitter express zoomed past the 600,000 mark. And now, in only a month and a few days time, Modi has crossed 700,000. Thus, the rate of growth from 4L to 5L, 5L to 6L and now 6L to 7L has always doubled!

Modi's successful Twitter presence has another facet to it. In a time when public figures are under constant media scrutiny, Modi has the distinction of not getting into any kind of trouble, thanks to his Tweeting. This is a feat considering we have a sitting Congress MP who lost his ministry, thanks to a controversy that gathered steam on Twitter. Obama's ‘Unfollow Friday' is still an example of how excessive or wrong Tweeting can generate public anger.

In contrast, Modi has kept his style simple tweeting on development activities of his state, sharing his speeches without generating much controversy. Just a few weeks ago he began an innovative measure of sharing weekly newsletters.

His recent tweets on the S&P report took social media by storm. Expressing no surprise over the UPA rejection of S&P report, Modi tweeted that the toxic combination of poor economic decisions, lack of reforms and political roadblocks is pushing India to the brink. He wrote about the division of roles between "politically powerful" Sonia Gandhi and "appointed" Dr Manmohan Singh as weakening policy framework and creating a political vacuum.

Social media is truly here to stay. In a short span of time, it has emerged as a powerful force to reckon with. It is good to see lot of our politicians take the plunge and for them as well as those who are still on the fringes, Narendra Modi's social media style surely remains a big source of inspiration.

Follow Narendra Modi @ http://twitter.com/#!/narendramodi