Social media can attract voters, but candidates must interact — experts

AMMAN — As parliamentary hopefuls turn to social media to attract voters, digital marketing experts warn that while tools like Facebook can drive the youth vote, misusing them could backfire.  

Many candidates in the upcoming election have Facebook pages, but most of them are not updated regularly, and those who administer the pages rarely respond to comments or questions, experts interviewed by The Jordan Times said on Tuesday.

On most candidates’ Facebook pages, there is no interaction with users. Questions about how to vote and queries about candidates’ political platforms often go unanswered. 

"Social media platforms, especially Facebook, are great tools to reach out to targeted audiences and age groups, but candidates are not using these properly," said Mohammad Hamad, digital marketing expert at Bidaya Corporate Communications.

While social media networks offer an opportunity to effectively target specific groups, creating a Facebook page is not enough, he told The Jordan Times. 

“Interaction and engagement with users is crucial to make or break a page,” he said.

Some candidates post videos on their pages to introduce themselves, but while they advocate change, they do not specify the kind of change they seek, or how they plan to achieve it, experts noted. 

They added that other Facebook posts are usually limited to photos of the candidates among supporters or at meetings. 

"The content on the pages of candidates is boring and will not necessarily lead to increase voter turnout for them," said Mohammad Farouq Obeidat, a social media expert. 

"By using Facebook or other tools, candidates seek to communicate and deliver a message, but communication is a two-way street. They need to respond to comments and inquiries and interact with users," Obeidat told The Jordan Times. 

He stressed that there is an increase in the use of social media during elections, noting that online platforms were much cheaper than traditional campaigning methods. 

Jawdat Shammas, a digital marketing expert, said that social media tools could help encourage the youth to go to the polls.

“At present, the majority of the youth do not read newspapers, but they use their smartphones to surf news and check Facebook around the clock. Candidates can reach a larger audience via social media,” Shammas said. 

Some candidates are already aware that social media, particularly Facebook, offers a cheap and effective way to spread their messages. 

“I am using Facebook to promote myself and my programme. Social media is very important. I have not used it before and this is the first time I resort to it because I believe it can play a role in attracting supporters,” said former MP Rula Hroub who is running for a re-election.

“I will also start posting live feed videos on Facebook for an hour everyday to listen to peoples’ views,” she said. “But I cannot judge whether using these tools would ensure me win, but I know they are indispensable nowadays,” she added.

Mustafa Rawashdeh, who is also running in the upcoming elections, agreed.

“Social media can help us reach voters anywhere, any time and in seconds. It has high interaction, specifically from the young people. It is much cheaper than ads in newspapers or on TV,” he said.