Who Is Tweeting on #PRU13?

Abstract

The popular microblogging platform known as Twitter has become a legitimate and frequently used communication channel in the Malaysian political arena. While the 2008 Malaysian general election was notable for the use of social media by the opposition parties during their campaigns, the 2013 general election saw a level playing field in which the Barisan Nasional coalition had quickly caught up in its use of social media. This study draws on a content analysis of election-related Twitter messages collected under the #pru13 hashtag to describe the key patterns of activity and the thematic foci of the election's coverage on this particular social media site. The dataset is collected from Twitter's public timeline from May 1to May 6, 2013. What emerged from this analysis is there are evidently intensified and amplified campaign messages polluting the #pru13 hastag from accounts that are questionable in their origin. This study adds to the literature that has questioned the predictive power of social media in an election.

Social Media Use and Political Efficacy: Structural Effect of the Voting Decision of New Voters

“…The first wave sparks during General Election (GE) 12, and some believe that this is 'Tsunami Politik Melayu' (Salleh, 2008) and 'Tsunami Politik Anak Muda Cina' (Pong, 2012). The explosion of political interest among young people continues to GE 13 (Kasmani et al, 2014), proven that participation by young people in the democracy process causes dramatic changes in Malaysia's political sphere. Tracking the involvement of young people in political activities can change Malaysia political sphere; idea spark by politician proposes to lowering the voting age to 18, and critics of giving citizens under 21 to vote to argue that such teenagers lack political interest (Zhang & Chia, 2006) and little motivation to search political knowledge that drives them to participate effectively in elections (Anduiza et al, 2012).…”