A 2011 IPS study found that the 2011 General Election (GE) was not an Internet election. Among the reasons were: non-mainstream media (which included alternative blogs and Facebook) had a low influence on how people voted, and that influence was lower than that of mainstream media; non-mainstream media was less trusted and less important than mainstream media as sources of election information; and voters decided on their vote before the election, implying that there was little impact of all media during the campaign period.

Post the 2011 GE, the proliferation of smart phones and Instant Messaging applications like WhatsApp have boosted the sharing of political news, pictures and videos. Hence we anticipate a greater volume of information exchange and discussion among users for the coming election.

The PAP and opposition parties’ current efforts to garner and mobilise support through different online platforms and apps demonstrate their recognition of technology’s key benefit – instant and wide reach at little or no cost. It will be interesting to see if this has any impact on the upcoming election. A caveat to this though: Political parties are likely to be reaching out to existing supporters instead of those whom they hope to win over. This is because research has shown that most people tend to gravitate to sites that appeal to their interests and ideologies. Hence while social media and apps will widen parties’ reach among existing supporters and perhaps reinforce goodwill, they may have less of an impact on non-supporters.

Dr Carol Soon is a Research Fellow at IPS. View her profile here