Social Media and Politics: How Candidates Used Facebook in 2020 Kimanis By-Election

Abstract

This article explores the ways politicians used Facebook as part of their political campaigns based on postings of Mohamad Alamin and Karim Bujang who contested in the Kimanis 2020 by-election. Throughout the two-week campaigning period from 4 to 17 January 2020, a total of 22 postings related to Kimanis were made by both candidates on their respective pages, evidence that the platform was used as part of their campaigning tools. However, both candidates used the platform differently and the difference is attributed to their familiarity (or lack of) with the platform’s various social buttons. In his usage of these affordances, Mohamad had created an online trail that linked him to prominent politicians who were campaigning for him. These politicians generated 43 Kimanis-related postings on their respective pages. On the other hand, as Karim did not utilize these buttons, there was no online trail that linked him to other politicians in his camp. As for the nature of the postings, both candidates did not use Facebook to raise issues of concern to the voters. Rather, it was utilized to document their offline campaign activities. However, Mohamad certainly benefitted from his online network as the influential politicians generated contents that were important to the voters. This study shows that despite the incorporation of Facebook in the candidates’ political campaigns, it is not fully utilized for active political conversations. Additionally, a familiarity with the social affordances of Facebook could be strategically used to create a more impactful online campaign.