Politicians on Twitter: A rising trend.

According to an article in the Malaysian Insider by Zahiid (2010), Malaysian politicians like Anwar Ibrahim, Jonson Chong and even our Prime Minister Najib are turning to micro-blogging services such as Twitter to connect with their voters and update them with current events. This trend started first in America with politicians using Twitter to connect them directly with constituents. According to Oliphant (2009), politician John MacCain former republican nominee for president has over 122,000 followers – the most out of any congressman. Micro blogging can be defined as a networking service that allows people to use cell phones or other internet connected devices to stay updated about a chosen person or event through frequently updated short messages. (Kayne 2010) Twitter allows for people to “Subscribe” to certain figures and receive “live” updates from them.

Screenshots of both Najib and Anwar Ibrahim's Twitter pages. Taken at 7:44pm 11th November 2010

One of the reasons for the rise in the micro blogging trend is because of the rising numbers in 3G mobile users; statistics show that there has been a steady rise in 3G subscribers in Malaysia. (Zahiid 2010) Second, Twitter is popular among Smartphone users because of its ability to convey snippets of information at a time, catering to those with short attention spans rather than blogs with lengthy posts. However, according to Sussman (2009), blogs with more than a hundred views a day received on average 83% of their page views through Twitter referrals. Not only that, Twitter allows for direct unfiltered messages from the source rather than for it to go through other channels and be submitted through gatekeepers that select what news is relevant and what is not.

New media such as Twitter has raised people’s expectations of democracy. According to Meyer (2002) new media has the power to of turning the traditional, hierarchical, one-to-many structure of communication into a many-to-many structure. New media introduces a new different uncensored public sphere that is believed to have the potential to cultivate great interest and encourage participation in the political process which will in turn enhance and improve the democratic process. Alternative public spheres provide alternative views for the people to know how and why they’re voting for who they’re voting for. (Barnett 1997)

Reference:

Barnett, S 1997, “New Media, Old Problems: New Technology and the Political Process”, European Journal of Communication, Sage Publications, 12^: 193, accessed 7^th October 2010, http://ejc.sagepub.com/content/12/2/193.full.pdf+html

Kayne, R 2010, “What is Microblogging?” Wise Geek, published 3^rd October 2010, accessed 6^th November 2010, http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-microblogging.htm

Meyer, T 2002, “Media Democracy: How the media colonize politics”, Blackwell, Malden.

Oliphant, J 2009, “Politicians using Twitter in growing numbers,” Chicago Tribune, published 5^th March, accessed 6^th November 2010, < color="black">

Sussman, M 2009 , “Day 5: Twitter, Global Impact and the Future Of Blogging - SOTB 2009,” Technorati, published 23^rd October, accessed 6^th November 2010, http://technorati.com/blogging/article/day-5-twitter-global-impact-and/#ixzz14yDN6OWW

Zahiid, S J 2010, “Blogging is so yesterday, politicians turn to twitter,” The Malaysian Insider, published 11^th February, accessed 6^th November 2010, http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/Blogging-is-so-yesterday-politicians-turn-to-Twitter/