Trollblazers: Parties employ memes to garner votes this election

Inside a dim-lit room, a group of four youngsters are busy creating content that could tickle someone's funny bones and at the same time discreetly sow a political agenda into minds. Sharp, witty and in sync with the political game plan of the day, these 20-somethings may be strangers to the outside world but their creations - memes - are not.

The tech-savvies are among the hundreds of digital warriors who have turned "memes into service" for political parties. "There are more than 1,000 active meme creators with hundreds of FB accounts and a huge following. What started as a hobby has now turned into a profitable venture," says Vijay (name changed) who makes content for both Dravidian parties. Their orders are unambiguous - promote leaders, ridicule rivals.

Election is peak season for meme creators as they race against the clock coming up with content that is both political and satirical at the same time. Analysts say meme creators are becoming a force to reckon with since many political parties have taken the plunge to strengthen their digital presence. During the polls, some memers rake in up to Rs 30,000 a month.

"All we need is a laptop or smartphone with good internet connectivity, a free meme creator app and 20 minutes," says Vijay. Most meme creators churn out 15 a day.

"The memes have to promote leaders, their candidates and alliance parties, shoot down false propaganda against them and troll the opponent leaders with facts," says Vijay. "We have to be sure of the facts because there is always someone ready to troll a meme," says Delhi-based Gunasekaran Punniyamoorthi, who memes for the cine industry and a political party to which he is affiliated.

Troll videos though are time consuming. "We spend seven to eight hours, sometimes days, to create a one-minute troll video," says Gunasekaran. "This is because we have to view footage of the leader being trolled over a period of few years, cut those portions where they stumble and fumble and put them all together along with funny clips and a background score."

Alex, another meme creator in Chennai, says a meme has the capacity to influence youngsters. "It just needs to be crisp, clear and current to have a good reach. We post memes on our Facebook pages and it spreads like wildfire," says K S Alex Pandian. Most creators find their muse in comedian Vadivelu, who they call is the mass hero of memes. "The comedian's popular dialogues and images are enough to make our memes go viral," says Vijay.