Facebook and Political Communication: A study of Online Campaigning During the14th Malaysian General Election

Authors

  • Shafizan Mohamed International Islamic University Malaysia
  • Kamaruzzaman Abdul Manan Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31436/ijohs.v2i1.112

Keywords:

elections, Facebook, personalisation of politics, political communication, social media

Abstract

Every democratic country has to go through the general election where political candidates must convince the public to vote for them. In recent years, Facebook has become one of the most popular social media used in election campaigning. Due to its popularity and easy access to the public, Facebook offers election candidates the ability to personalise their political messages and directly communicate with the voters and win the voters’ trust. This study looks into this phenomenon by studying how election candidates used Facebook to campaign during the 14th Malaysian General Election. The study investigated how the candidates’ personalised their campaign by looking at the types and characteristics of the candidates’ Facebook posts as well as the issues highlighted and slants applied in the posts. Content analysis of the candidates’ Facebook posts showed that the candidates were very active on Facebook and had strategically used Facebook to create and maintain a positive image rather than promoting issues and engaging in discussions with the public. The study also found a significant case of personalisation in the Malaysian politicians’ campaign strategies on Facebook.

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Published

2020-06-28

How to Cite

Mohamed, S., & Abdul Manan, K. (2020). Facebook and Political Communication: A study of Online Campaigning During the14th Malaysian General Election. IIUM JOURNAL OF HUMAN SCIENCES, 2(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.31436/ijohs.v2i1.112