[Editorial] Social networks for Taiwan’s presidential poll

The introduction of Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks and online video-streaming sites has revolutionized the concept of “breaking news” and information distribution.

Using the highly visual and instantaneous new media can allow something to spread faster than the proverbial wildfire, creating a borderless, 24-hour wellspring of data that simultaneously attracts millions of eyeballs across the world.

For public figures, the idea of intimacy ― or the illusion of such ― is amplified by an online presence. In teen parlance, “almost everyone who is anyone” in the U.S. has a Twitter account. It can be argued that the 140-character microblogging service has replaced for celebrities the need to go through an official spokesperson or “mouthpiece,” if one is inclined to believe all celebrities type out their own “tweets.” This intimacy and public correspondence (many celebrities regularly reply to those who comment on their page) forges a unique bond previously impossible between say, a 55-year-old bestselling novelist and his college student fan.

When it comes to presidential candidates and their campaigns, social media ― Facebook, in particular ― have proven to be especially handy. U.S. President Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign was especially innovative due to his use of the Internet, which enabled him to efficiently rally and build “relationships” with supporters and clarify his policies while targeting the young voting demographic through the medium they know best.

When you think about it, “campaigning” is nothing if not the marketing and promotion of one product ― the presidential candidate. Like any good market strategy, the target audience must first be identified and understood insomuch that they can be addressed in a genuine way.

Obama’s campaign office, through consumer marketing tactics, was well aware of the political apathy within the 18-to-29-year-old demographic. To show that he understood their issues and concerns, the Obama camp created profiles on Facebook and the erstwhile MySpace, through which he was able to develop a personable presence and gain their trust and support. The Web campaigning gave Obama a significant advantage over then-Republican candidate John McCain, whose limited online presence and old age altogether made him hard to relate to for young voters.

Fast forward three years later and everyone has caught on. Both incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) and his presidential election opponent, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen, have Facebook profiles. To show how much the times have changed, Tsai even ran her campaign commercial online before considering a TV ad placement, in which she pushed everyone to “Think of Taiwan” (Taiwan, Where are you? Taiwan, What do you want? Taiwan, Where are you going? What’s next?).

While Tsai is often touted as a popular candidate among young voters, Ma has 3.18 times more “fans” on Facebook than Tsai does, based on the findings of the Internet Buzz Research Center (iBuzz). While Tsai’s fanbase more than tripled since she announced her run for the presidency (increasing from 70,000 to 227,230), Ma’s fans have consistently increased, now sitting at 692,553 and growing. If this was the basis of a public opinion poll, one can say the KMT candidate is leading by miles.

The difference could either be chalked up to popularity ― Ma is, after all, our current president ― but can also be explained by the way in which the candidates interact with their supporters. Tsai favors textual posts, which make up the majority of the 15,072 existing ones, while Ma’s 209 posts comprise largely of uploaded video clips.

It could merely be a style preference, or it could be a smart, purposeful strategy on the KMT campaign office’s part; the viral nature of videos and, in line with Obama’s approach, the familiar face-to-face nature of Ma’s posts are major pluses for youths. While Ma may be winning on the cyberfront, it would be interesting to see what research says on how much these social media efforts impact votes ― especially as, unlike the imbalance between Obama and McCain, both sides are aggressively using it as part of their campaign.

Editorial, The China Post (Taiwan)

(Asia News Network)