Influencers hog limelight in poll season; Rajasthan govt notifies ad rates

Both govts and political parties woo them for campaigns; Rajasthan govt notifies ad rates

In a first, the Rajasthan government has brought social-media influencers — those with a significant following on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter — on a par with print and electronic media for issuing advertisements to spread the message about its welfare schemes.

The Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government announced earlier this week it would give advertisements for sums anywhere between Rs 10,000 and Rs 5 lakh to social-media influencers if they propagated government schemes and programmes. The state government has categorised influencers into four categories: Category A with a minimum of 1 million subscribers/followers, category B with half a million subscribers/followers, category C with 100,000 subscribers/followers, and category D with at least 10,000 subscribers/followers.