Any which way to woo voters

PETALING JAYA: Social media platforms such as TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp are being fully exploited as politicians try to gain an edge over each other. Many have dedicated social media handles, but in the battle for 222 parliamentary seats with 945 hopefuls, each candidate, be it a veteran politician or newbie, is embracing the new norm of campaigning.

According to Datareportal, at the beginning of the year, Malaysia’s social media users were 91.7% of the total population.

In terms of the social media platforms, Malaysia has 23.6 million YouTube users, 21.7 million in Facebook, 15.5 million in Instagram, 14.59 million in TikTok and 4.4 million using Twitter.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and even former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed have structured contents posted daily or even hourly on social media.

From hugging children and soldiers to cleaning premises, shaking hands, taking selfies and sharing fast food meals, the outreach is documented to reach a wider audience, mainly the young.

Many are also using infographics which summarises the candidates credentials as a way to inform or introduce them to voters.

There is also a tendency to go ‘live’ on these platforms when big announcements are made to create hype.

Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari has been very active on several platforms and was even seen flipping roti canai and sitting for coffee at a mamak restaurant.

The Gombak parliamentary seat hopeful has a verified Twitter account @AmirudinShari, and another @Amirudin_Comms followed by a verified Facebook page with sponsored content.

All his tweets and stories are also shared by Media Selangor and PKR. This is done to push his candidacy to the maximum during the GE15 campaign trail.

First time candidate Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz is also one of those actively campaigning on social media.

His Facebook has more constructed content with pictures and videos of his meet and greet of people.

Datuk Seri Rina Harun is also active on TikTok, using it to showcase her daily activities as the Women, Family and Community Development Minister.

Her videos feature her walkabouts, ceramah as well as meeting people in Sepang, where she is contesting now.

The Bersatu Srikandi chief’s recent videos can garner up to 20,000 likes depending on the topic.

“This helps me have a two-way communication with the people, which is very crucial,” she said.

Ikatan Silaturahim Brotherhood founder Azlan Sani Zawawi or popularly known as Lando Zawawi needs no introduction on social media due to his viral videos.

The popular activist who is known to fix potholes and advocate road safety said social media was more about getting people “to know and understand my personality and history”.