When Narendra Modi appeared on Frankly Speaking with Arnab Goswami on Times Now, the 85-minute interview generated an unprecedented online buzz by throwing up over 250,000 tweets during a 12-hour period.
It is also reported to have made 1.2 billion impressions on Twitter (meaning it appeared on 1.2 billion timelines).
#PMSpeakstoArnab was trending on Twitter throughout the day as the nation’s Twitterati came together on the micro-blogging site to sound off their opinion, appreciations and criticisms of the interview. Twitter users also actively discussed the plethora of news issues thrown up by the Prime Minister’s calculated answers in the interview.
Times Now released clips, bulletins and pictures depicting the talking points of the interview on Facebook and Twitter. The news channel also uploaded the full 85-minute video on both social media platforms.
Arnab Goswami in an uncharacteristic move reacted to the buzz around the interview and took a dig at those criticizing. Appearing on a Facebook Live with Newsmobile, the Times Now Editor-in-Chief said, “If there is a group that has nothing to do but discuss my interviews, day in and day out, without any fail, without getting exhausted, then I am very flattered. It only proves how keenly they watch News Hour and Frankly Speaking.”
The reaction came after articles hundreds of articles have been written, praising, mocking and discussing both the interview and the subsequent reaction to it. Several publications including Yahoo India, Huffington Post and The Indian Express published a fully translated text of the interview which turned out to be a whopping 12,235 words long.
Social media did not take long to react too. The absence of aggressiveness and incisiveness that has become characteristic of his interviews did not go unnoticed as memes tumbled out on social media.
Does the nation want to know what I frankly shared with Mr. Arnab Goswami? Find out 6 PM onwards on @timesnow. pic.twitter.com/Q8fPxVpYwk
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 27, 2016
2,50,000 tweets on PM’s interview with Times Now, that too 1,70,000 in just six hours. Reported 1.2 billion impressions on twitter. 1/
— M Venkaiah Naidu (@MVenkaiahNaidu) June 28, 2016
Frankly Speaking, It’s a match. Bromance of the year #PMSpeaksToArnab pic.twitter.com/0V9KUODHGm
— Swachh Politics (@SwachhPolitics) June 28, 2016