KUALA LUMPUR — Instant messaging app WhatsApp will be one of the main campaign platforms for Malaysian political parties ahead of the general election that is expected to be called within weeks, say experts and politicians.

WhatsApp has 68 per cent coverage in Malaysia as of the third quarter of 2017.

Sunway University senior communication lecturer Dr Pauline Leong said at a public forum earlier this week that “2018 will be a WhatsApp election”.

By contrast, the 2008 general election was a “blogging election” where bloggers made a name for themselves.

The 2013 national polls meanwhile was a social media election where political parties made short clips and music videos that went viral on social platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

Dr Leong’s remarks were echoed by Mr Zaidel Baharuddin who is the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition’s youth wing executive secretary.

Mr Zaidel said WhatsApp is a better platform than Facebook to reach out to voters, especially those from rural areas, where mobile data speed is slower.

“The data volume is smaller, (and) because of the 100MB cap, the loading time is shorter compared with Facebook,” he said.

He said even those living in remote areas in Sarawak own mobile phones and whenever they have access to the internet, usually the first online messages they received are WhatsApp notifications.

As such, he added that no politician can afford to ignore social media applications at this age of technology.

Citing the Lembah Pantai parliamentary seat in Kuala Lumpur — which is currently held by opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) — as an example, Mr Zaidel said although the seat has about 60,000 voters, only 20 per cent of them are born and bred there.

“It’s not enough to provide social services to them. You need to reach out to the other voters through social media,” he said.

PKR communication director Fahmi Fadzil concurred that it is faster to use WhatsApp to spread memes but noted that only good content will go viral.

“A lot of people like to ask: how do I make a post viral? This is the wrong approach. You can only make it viral if the content resonates with the public,” he said.

He also said most people do not discuss their political views on WhatsApp, but they do on Facebook and Twitter.

“They just want to know what’s the latest news (through WhatsApp): whether fuel prices went up, or about the seizure of Equanimity in Indonesia,” he said in reference to the seizure of a luxury yacht allegedly owned by businessman Low Taek Jho.

Still, Malaysian Digital Association president Sam Teck Choon said other social media platforms will still be relevant in the electionsas most internet users access Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and other apps at different times of the day.

Citing opposition Pakatan Harapan pact’s chairman Mahathir Mohamad as an example, Mr Sam said the former prime minister opened several social media accounts after returning to active politics, the latest being Instagram.

“This shows that other social media platforms are also important,” he said.

Opposition Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman also disagreed that WhatsApp will be a game-changer in the upcoming polls.

“It is impossible that the (social media war) during elections will be concentrated on just one platform,” he said.

Syed Saddiq was criticised for posting photographs about his pets and his family members on Instagram when he entered politics in 2016.

“They said it had nothing to do with politics. But I wanted to show politicians have a personal life, too. After a while, the public got used to it.” THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT