KUALA LUMPUR – The official campaigning for the looming 15th general election (GE15) will only kick off on November 5 but political parties are already making their presence felt on social media, aiming their pitches at netizens who have yet to decide on which “camp” to support.
In the run-up to the previous national polls, Facebook was the main battleground for many digitally savvy candidates but this time, TikTok is emerging as the number one social media platform to win over the hearts and minds of voters, especially youths.
The popularity of the short video creation and sharing site can be attributed to its substantial user base – as of early this year, TikTok had an estimated 17 million users in Malaysia, most of them aged above 18.
On November 19, Malaysians will go to the polls to elect a new government. The nation’s electorate is estimated at 21 million, out of which 34% are first-time voters.
Interestingly, about 3.8 million of the new voters are aged 18 and above – Gen Z, born in the information technology and information explosion era, who are IT-savvy and social media “experts”.
Considering the situation, questions are bound to arise about the maturity of these young voters and the decisions they will make at the ballot box in the face of information overload, including fabricated postings that some observers think can influence their voting trends.
Negative news more attractive
According to political observer and social media personality Tai Zee How, the younger generation of electors relies heavily on social media to get information.
“It’s evident on social media that more Malaysians are interested in politics now than in previous years. Unfortunately, they seem to be more interested in spreading false news and slander, and using impolite language,” he said.
He said their maturity can be gauged from the information and views they share on social media, adding that this can be used as a guide in evaluating their voting trends.
“The maturity of Malaysian voters has, however, been inconsistent since the independence era, rather it is skewed towards their socio-economic status, race, age, locality, occupation, gender, and so on.
“But their maturity levels are set to rise as the people are no longer relying on information only from certain sources… it’s just that the assessment of their maturity is different; it is subjective and relative to one another,” he said.
TikTok Wave
Meanwhile, political and social media analyst Prof Sara Chinnasamy said politicians and candidates who fail to take advantage of social media tools will find themselves lagging behind in the dissemination of their party policies, campaign materials, and manifesto promises.
Sara, a communication and journalism lecturer at Universiti Teknologi Mara, said the online election “warfare” started back in 2008 (GE12) and picked up steam in GE13 (2013) – which was even labelled as a social media election as candidates and parties had capitalised on the medium to get their messages across to voters.
“The (current) TikTok wave is unavoidable… it was the most popular platform in use during the elections in countries such as Germany, Colombia, Philippines, and the United States,” she said,
But she cautioned that social media platforms can also serve as “incubators” for baseless and misleading content, which is the flip side of social media campaigning.
Urging politicians and candidates to use social media responsibly, Sara said they should only convey information based on facts and backed by data, not unverified posts that can stir up emotions.
According to her, unleashing a social media campaign that incites hatred will not win votes but would instead breed distrust with the public. Acting ethically on social media, on the other hand, will enhance the credibility of a candidate and the party they represent.
“The unethical behaviour of candidates can lead to more electors deciding to become fence-sitters and declining to vote,” she added.
Decide wisely
Senior fellow of the National Professors’ Council Datuk Jeniri Amir, meanwhile, advised young voters not to blindly accept any content published on social media.
“It’s important for youngsters not to swallow every post they read on social media because some of the content is posted by people who have their own agenda. If they believe everything they read, their decision (at the ballot box) may be influenced by what they have read,” he said.
He said netizens should, instead, try to verify the facts by checking with credible sources such as established media organisations.
He said voters must remember that the decision they make on November 19 is for the next five years.
“… acting hastily in making a decision will ultimately cause harm to the constituency and the candidate they vote for,” he added. – Bernama, October 21, 2022
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