ON SOCIAL media, a big base of people who liked or followed a candidate does not equate to conversation with possible voters.
Candidates use Facebook and Twitter, their preferred social media platforms, primarily for promotions, not necessarily for interaction to let voters know them better or for them to know the voter better.
Those who have high engagement (the response a post receives from the audience, including Likes/Reactions, Comments, and Shares or Retweets) may have resorted to using “influencers” and “paid media” to back them.
This was what the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) discovered in an audit of social media activities of 20 candidates for senator who are actively engaged on social media. It said, “Big fan bases did not automatically deliver big reach numbers for all the candidates.”
The audit of social-media posts of the candidates throughout the month of January showed “discernible trends” of certain candidates having “paid” supporters and trolls, resorting to boosting their posts, or paying to advertise themselves.
In its Facebook content scan covering January 2019, the PCIJ found out that “quantity does not automatically translate to quality.” Some candidates achieved much higher engagement (Likes, Comments, Shares) on fewer posts than others who have published more posts but have drawn relatively less interaction from the audience, it said.
Bong Go published over 160 Facebook posts in January 2019, gaining over 6.7 million Likes, Comments, and Shares in total engagement. Dividing 6.7-million engagement by his 160-plus Facebook posts, Go achieved an average of 40,800 engagements per post. Imee Marcos published a total of 108 posts but average engagement per post is 6,300. In the case of Mar Roxas, his 42 posts last month drew an average of 8,900 engagements per post. That is higher that Marcos’s engagement per post. Juan Ponce Enrile, meanwhile, published 30 posts that each yielded 7,900 engagements on average.
The high engagement despite fewer posts shows that some candidates offered content and messaging that possibly encouraged “higher affinity and relatability values with the audience,” and that “influencers” and “paid media” could have been used to support or boost the “reach” and “air time” of the candidates’ Facebook posts or pages.
The report also noted that big fan bases did not automatically deliver big reach numbers.
Grace Poe had the biggest fan base with 3,402,339 followers, but had only 2,618 average engagement per post compared to Go’s 388,852 followers but 40,803 average engagement per post.
The purpose of using social media in an election campaign goes beyond mere promotions. It cannot be one-way from candidate to voter because the platform is a means to communicate to and with the voter.
In turn, voters should be active on social media to let candidates know their aspirations and desires.
That is how social media should be used in an election campaign.