Thiruvananthapuram: The noise Kerala politicians make on social media resembles the thunders that precede monsoon rains in the state. But it appears that Kerala politicians have yet to touch the heartstrings of netizens.

Sure, things have improved, but there is apparently a long way to go before politicians become celebrities on the internet, say experts.

In May 2011 when the Congress-led United Democratic Front won the Kerala assembly election by a whisker, winning 72-68 in the 140-member assembly against the Left Democratic Front, social media hardly mattered.

Five years later as the state is engrossed in another assembly poll, the big stars of the poll arena, chief minister Oommen Chandy, Opposition leader V.S. Achuthanandan and many other leaders are on social media on a regular basis.

They are present alright, but the engagement seems to be lacking.

According to a study by Kochi-based social media communication and analytics firm, GOIS Labs, there are about 7 million social media users in Kerala, of whom 6 million are in the 18-65 age group, making it a must-use media platform to reach out to voters. Kerala’s total population in the voting age is estimated at 26 million.

“You have to eliminate about 30 per cent of the 6 million to get the right picture”, says GOIS Labs COO, Nandakishore Harikumar because 30 per cent is the likely figure of NRIs who will not be home to vote, and many thousands of social media accounts that are fake.

GOIS Labs says the 10 constituencies in the state where social media use is highest – according to the Internet and Mobile Association of India data – are Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Palakkad, Kottayam, Thrissur, Alapuzha, Kollam, Malappuram, Kozhikode and Kannur.

Kerala has a few big stars in terms of social media followers including Thiruvananthapuram MP, Shashi Tharoor and cricketer Santhakkumaran Sreesanth, who have four and one million followers respectively. But it is after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections that political leaders in Kerala began appreciating the power of social media.

However, there are contrasts in usage. While the Indian Union Muslim League leaders have strongly embraced social media, another UDF coalition partner, the Kerala Congress (M) appears to be lagging.

“The trouble with politicians on social media is that very few of them have things to say that have an emotional appeal to the internet population. More often, it is just one political statement countered by another one”, says Harikumar.

Therefore it should be little surprise that someone like Malayalam film actor Mohanlal has over 4 million likes on social media while the better-known politicians of the state struggle to get a few thousand likes for each of their posts.

Being present on social media has its pitfalls, too. Among those most trolled on social media is senior Congress leader, Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan. His fault? He happened to mispronounce the names of a number of film personalities when he read out the names of those who had won film awards.