In Johor, GE14 campaigns hybrid of social media-savvy and good, old-fashioned legwork

JOHOR BARU, March 15 — The popularity and prevalence of social media are driving more political parties to incorporate it into their campaigns for the 14th general election, tempted by the reach provided by services such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp.

In Johor, Facebook and WhatsApp are considered crucial for communicating and engaging with voters.

Almost all political parties, from state to parliamentary grassroots level, have some form of social media outreach that is used together with traditional methods in communicating with voters.

From Umno that was born in the state to the fledgling Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM), all told Malay Mail they were engaging in at least one form of social media campaigning.

“This is basically something that all political parties need to harness to disseminate information, promote activities or discuss issues,” said Umno information chief Datuk Samsol Bari Jamali.

For the state chapter of Umno, he added that social media usage will go hand-in-hand with conventional campaigning activities and will come from various sources such as the party’s representative as an individual, the branch and also the division.

Social media was also popular as most politicians and Malaysians already used these in their personal lives, he explained.

The appeal crossed the political divide, with Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan parties engaging on social media.

Both DAP and PKR were among the early proponents of social media via Facebook in the state battle in the run-up to the 13th general election, and have continued building on this for the next.

Johor PKR deputy chief Jimmy Phua said his party viewed social media as a key battleground for the 14th general election.

“For my personal and also state seat Facebook, I have also set a personal key performance indicator (KPI) and will respond to queries and comments within an hour,” he said, adding that as the elected state representative it was also his duty to inform his constituents via social media about activities and issues.

Johor’s 26 parliamentary seats and 56 state seats are a mix of urban and semi-rural areas.

Johor is a rapidly urbanising state with a large multi-ethnic population of 3.7 million. The state is widely seen as a model state for Malaysian politics based on its racial and social strata breakdown.

Prior to 2013, BN parties had been slow to jump on the social media bandwagon, but they have since caught up, and by some measure, even surpassed their rivals.

While most parties can see the value of social media campaigning, many believe it is not yet ready to replace the traditional methods of door-to-door canvassing and rallies.

“I would say Facebook and other social media plays a vital role, but they are not the ultimate battleground for a general election,” Johor DAP publicity secretary Wong Shu Qi said.

“Engagement in person is still very important, especially for semi-urban and rural seats. Sometimes, it is also important for kampung areas in urban seats,” the Senai assemblyman explained, saying there was intrinsic value in personally meeting constituents.

While most cited the lack of a personal touch as their reason for retaining traditional methods, for Johor MCA, it was because social media interaction could sometimes be too personal.

Johor MCA auditor Yeo Kwee Kwang, who is also involved in the party’s state social media efforts, said his party was unfairly attacked online, which diminished the quality of the interaction.

“We try our best to answer with facts, but the public should also be fair to us as our postings are usually non-political in nature and pertain mainly to community-related issues,” said Yeo, who is also the Pulai MCA division secretary.

One party that is betting heavily on social media is PPBM, with Johor PPBM secretary Datuk Osman Sapian saying the medium was well-suited to the state.

“We are lucky to have a team of social media-savvy members in the party, and also good support from the national side to inform, promote and also answer to issues,” said the former Umno lawmaker.

The unspoken motivation may also be that his party is still in its infancy, with social media allowing PPBM to make up the ground to rival Umno that is entrenched in the state.

Still, all the parties told Malay Mail that they will deploy traditional campaigning methods once the race begins in earnest.

Most believe a “hybrid” approach was the best, given prevailing attitudes and technology.

“For us, focused engagement is still important as what is being said on social media may not necessarily bring the desired results in certain areas of Johor,” Samsol Bari said.