THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Facebook seems to be the most preferred social media platform of new legislators. While 137 of the total 140 legislators have a Facebook account, only 64 possess an Instagram account. Twitter is the least favoured as only 17 MLAs have account in the micro-blogging site.
The social media usage trends among the legislators were revealed in a study by Kottayam-based political research agency Leaders and Ladders.
The election affidavits of the leaders were used for the analysis. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has the highest number of followers on Facebook, 15 lakh, followed by former Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala, 12 lakh.
Over 13.17 lakh persons have liked Pinarayi’s page while Chennithala’s page has 12 lakh likes. Over 11 lakh people have liked former chief minister Oommen Chandy’s page while 7.62 lakh have liked former Health Minister KK Shailaja’s page.
Kuttanad MLA Thomas K Thomas and Chengannur MLA Saji Cheriyan have websites but do not have presence on Twitter or YouTube.
A Prabhakaran of Malampuzha, KB Ganesh Kumar of Pathanapuram and former minister Kadannappaly Ramachandran, who won from Kannur, do not have FB account.
Only three leaders, Pinarayi, Oommen Chandy and K Babu have YouTube accounts. The study revealed that most of the leaders became active after the Covid-19 spread.