The new political frontier
Pakistan Today: Friday, May 25, 2012
Ignore the influence of
social media at your own peril
Gone
are the days when we used to wait for the morning paper to know about national
and international affairs - because of social media, we get the information as
it happens. In today’s interconnected world, text messages, emails, Facebook,
Twitter, blogs and other social media tools have replaced traditional media
like radio, print and television.
The
internet has been perhaps the most outstanding innovation in the field of
communications and research. Today, a big chunk of the world population uses
the internet for multiple purposes. Internet World Stats (IWS) estimated that
there are around 2,267,233,742 internet users in the world which is 32.7% of
the total world population. A regional breakup suggests that 44.8% of total
internet users are Asians. Interestingly, among the world’s top 20 internet
user states, China stands at number one, India at number three and Pakistan at
twenty.
According
to the study, in December 2011, there were about 30 million internet users in
Pakistan which amounts to 15.5 percent of the total population. Facebook is the
most visited Internet site in Pakistan, followed by Google, YouTube, Wikipedia,
Twitter, LinkedIn and others. Pakistan is at 26th in the world ranking of
Facebook users; currently, there are more than 6 million Facebook users in
Pakistan. 51 per cent of the 6 million Facebook users from Pakistan belong to
the 18-24 age bracket. Twitter is said to have around more than 3 million users
in Pakistan (more than the population of our capital city, Islamabad) and this
rate is increasing rapidly. Thus, a Twitter post of 140 characters is powerful
beyond its size.
Internet
penetration is dramatically increasing in our country as Pakistan
Telecommunication Ltd (PTCL) and other telecommunications are now offering
affordable and speedy internet services now. Our involvement and interest in
social networking can be judged when the government, particularly the Pakistan
Telecommunication Authority (PTA) was vastly criticised by people from every
walk of life when it blocked Twitter for more than eight hours on May 20. Next
day, it was a front page story on mainstream papers with editorials and
opinions.
This
new media is effective in many ways. It provides a platform to the people where
they can write, share and express their ideas without any fear and compulsion
and gives them an opportunity to get together and united for a purpose. It also
gives people the sense of being empowered since they can raise social issues,
agitate about them, forward their opinions to the requisite authorities through
these channels. Since it is an excellent source of connectivity, not only is it
a catalyst for collective social action but also makes organising the same
easier. Thus, social media channels can have an effect on public opinion and
influence policy making in a number of ways.
It
is well know that almost all American politicians employ social media to full
effect in their elections campaign. Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande too
used social media very effectively in the French presidential elections held in
April-May this year. Not so surprisingly, social media played an important role
in helping Hollande to win the presidential elections.
Today,
political parties in Pakistan are also making good use of social media; most of
the political parties have official websites, Facebook and Twitter pages. This
shows that they have now recognised the power and significance of these new
media. Social networks are the best medium for our political parties to attract
and engage their followers and voters, especially their younger, urban
demographic. Most political parties such as the PPP, PTI, PML-N, MQM manage
their online presence to communicate with their workers and engage and inform
people about their events and policies.
Politicians
too have their individual accounts. Imran Khan, Marvi Memon, Bilawal Bhutto,
Shahbaz Sharif, Pervez Musharraf and others have a sizable fan following on
social forums. This shows their interest to defend their party and engage with
people via social media. However; Imran Khan and his PTI is using social media
more effectively and strategically than others. Diplomats are not behind in
this race; they are actively engaged with their followers on social media
forums. Pakistan ambassador to US Sherry Rehman, former ambassador Hussain
Haqqani are but two examples of diplomats active on Twitter.
It
won’t be a stretch to claim that these forums are playing an effective and
constructive role in our society and in the politics of the country. According
to reports, 50 per cent of the registered voters are between eighteen to thirty
five years of age; political parties cannot ignore the fact that this segment
of population uses the internet and social networks the most. The one who will
attract and engage the followers on social forums will definitely reap the benefits
in the near future.
Social
media is challenging traditional political patterns and it is introducing new
political paradigms. Our political parties have to own and adopt these new
practices because the influence of online social networks will definitely make
a difference in future elections, and those who will ignore this will do so at
their own peril.
The
writer is a political research analyst based in Islamabad and tweets
@shafiqsolangi
