After the 2008 general election, the prevailing belief among many has been that the Malaysian cyberspace is an opposition stronghold.
However, a study by Malaysiakini challenges the perception that the opposition is the more dominant force online, at least on Twitter.
An analysis of Malaysian politicians on this ubiquitous social media platform shows that BN leaders have turned the tables on their Pakatan Rakyat counterparts, at least in terms of attracting followers.
Using social media analysis site Politweet's list of politicians as a starting point, Malaysiakini drew up a list of 30 Malaysian politicians, split evenly between Pakatan and BN.
Within Pakatan, the top five politicians of each component party - PKR, DAP and PAS - were taken to make up the 15.
The same was done with BN's three main component parties: Umno, MCA and MIC. Leaders who were not from either Pakatan or BN component parties were excluded.
The statistics were compiled on July 14, 2012 and do not take into account users who follow multiple leaders on Twitter.
The results show that rather than Pakatan having the stronger pull on Twitter, it is BN which draws more followers, with over a million to Pakatan's 641,000 - a lead of over 300,000.
However, a closer look at the numbers suggests that it is not a clear-cut case of all BN leaders being more popular than Pakatan leaders on Twitter.
With Umno's five leaders accounting for more than 94 percent of BN's followers, it seems that the Malay-based party is the one with an edge over Pakatan, rather than the federal ruling coalition as a whole.
In fact, Umno leaders occupy five of the top 10 spots in terms of number of Twitter followers, with the rest rounded out by opposition leaders - no MCA or MIC leader made the list.
And even within Umno, it seems to be Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak who is pulling in the numbers, as his follower count is about two-thirds of Umno's.
With about 659,000 followers, he outstrips all of Pakatan's 15 leaders combined, with arch-rival Anwar Ibrahim only attracting 165,000 people.
'Resources sunk into online footprint'
Ibrahim Suffian, head of independent pollster Merdeka Centre, cautioned that the results may not translate to actual support for the federal government.
Instead, it indicates the amount of resources Najib and Umno have sunk into expanding their online footprint.
He noted that Najib was an "early adopter" of Twitter and Facebook, and has the means to devote a lot of attention to his followers online.
"It generally indicates that people agree with his policies, but that does not necessarily mean these people will vote for the government. Considerations at the ballot box involve more than just voting for a leader," he said.
He added that Najib's popularity has probably had a ‘spillover' effect, with some of his followers also subscribing to other BN leaders.
This fits in with aMarch poll that suggested Najib's high personal ratings do not necessarily mean support for his administration.
His approval rating then was 69 percent - which has since dipped to65 percent - but only 48 percent of respondents reported being satisfied with the government.
However, a study by Malaysiakini challenges the perception that the opposition is the more dominant force online, at least on Twitter.
An analysis of Malaysian politicians on this ubiquitous social media platform shows that BN leaders have turned the tables on their Pakatan Rakyat counterparts, at least in terms of attracting followers.
Using social media analysis site Politweet's list of politicians as a starting point, Malaysiakini drew up a list of 30 Malaysian politicians, split evenly between Pakatan and BN.
Within Pakatan, the top five politicians of each component party - PKR, DAP and PAS - were taken to make up the 15.
The same was done with BN's three main component parties: Umno, MCA and MIC. Leaders who were not from either Pakatan or BN component parties were excluded.
The statistics were compiled on July 14, 2012 and do not take into account users who follow multiple leaders on Twitter.
The results show that rather than Pakatan having the stronger pull on Twitter, it is BN which draws more followers, with over a million to Pakatan's 641,000 - a lead of over 300,000.However, a closer look at the numbers suggests that it is not a clear-cut case of all BN leaders being more popular than Pakatan leaders on Twitter.
With Umno's five leaders accounting for more than 94 percent of BN's followers, it seems that the Malay-based party is the one with an edge over Pakatan, rather than the federal ruling coalition as a whole.
In fact, Umno leaders occupy five of the top 10 spots in terms of number of Twitter followers, with the rest rounded out by opposition leaders - no MCA or MIC leader made the list.
And even within Umno, it seems to be Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak who is pulling in the numbers, as his follower count is about two-thirds of Umno's.
With about 659,000 followers, he outstrips all of Pakatan's 15 leaders combined, with arch-rival Anwar Ibrahim only attracting 165,000 people.
'Resources sunk into online footprint'
Ibrahim Suffian, head of independent pollster Merdeka Centre, cautioned that the results may not translate to actual support for the federal government.
Instead, it indicates the amount of resources Najib and Umno have sunk into expanding their online footprint.
He noted that Najib was an "early adopter" of Twitter and Facebook, and has the means to devote a lot of attention to his followers online.
"It generally indicates that people agree with his policies, but that does not necessarily mean these people will vote for the government. Considerations at the ballot box involve more than just voting for a leader," he said.He added that Najib's popularity has probably had a ‘spillover' effect, with some of his followers also subscribing to other BN leaders.
This fits in with aMarch poll that suggested Najib's high personal ratings do not necessarily mean support for his administration.
His approval rating then was 69 percent - which has since dipped to65 percent - but only 48 percent of respondents reported being satisfied with the government.
Ibrahim also pointed out that the opposition clearly has fewer resources to devote to their Twitter or Facebook accounts - hence the lower follower count.
He suggested that an element of fear could be driving potential followers away from opposition politicians.
"There is a level of fear for some when it comes to overtly showing affiliation with opposition leaders," he said, adding that this category of followers may fear some sort of retribution.
'MCA, MIC not doing enough'
Despite this, all three Pakatan parties still fare much better on Twitter compared to the other two senior component BN parties.
In stark contrast to Umno's strong Twitter presence, MCA and MIC followers comprise fewer than 60,000 people combined - less than six percent of BN's million-strong following.
The three opposition parties not only far outstrip MCA and MIC, but have a more even spread of followers - PKR leads with 338,000 followers, followed by DAP's 189,000 and PAS' 115,000.
Commenting on this, Ibrahim (left) suggested it is more a reflection of MCA's and MIC's lack of engagement online, rather than popularity.
Umno has taken greater pains to reach out online than the two other BN component parties, he said.
"It shows who's paying attention to social media," he said, but suggested the two parties would do well to turn more of their attention online, as other parties have.
"Social media is becoming increasingly more important, and more relevant, especially when the youths who use it are a growing percentage of the electorate. MCA and MIC should be more imaginative."
BN Youth chief and BN Youth Volunteers head Khairy Jamaluddin asserted that BN leaders led the online pack because the coalition had learnt quickly from its bruising 2008 performance.
Asked whether they have managed to win over the youth who primarily populate cyberspace, Khairy dismissed the perception that they are pro-opposition as "simplistic'.
"Look at popular social media sites. BN leaders are now ahead of Pakatan leaders in terms of number of followers.
"They are an issues-based demographic, I don't think they just lean one way," he said, adding that they do not vote uniformly during elections.
He suggested that an element of fear could be driving potential followers away from opposition politicians.
"There is a level of fear for some when it comes to overtly showing affiliation with opposition leaders," he said, adding that this category of followers may fear some sort of retribution.
'MCA, MIC not doing enough'
Despite this, all three Pakatan parties still fare much better on Twitter compared to the other two senior component BN parties.
In stark contrast to Umno's strong Twitter presence, MCA and MIC followers comprise fewer than 60,000 people combined - less than six percent of BN's million-strong following.
The three opposition parties not only far outstrip MCA and MIC, but have a more even spread of followers - PKR leads with 338,000 followers, followed by DAP's 189,000 and PAS' 115,000.Commenting on this, Ibrahim (left) suggested it is more a reflection of MCA's and MIC's lack of engagement online, rather than popularity.
Umno has taken greater pains to reach out online than the two other BN component parties, he said.
"It shows who's paying attention to social media," he said, but suggested the two parties would do well to turn more of their attention online, as other parties have.
"Social media is becoming increasingly more important, and more relevant, especially when the youths who use it are a growing percentage of the electorate. MCA and MIC should be more imaginative."
BN Youth chief and BN Youth Volunteers head Khairy Jamaluddin asserted that BN leaders led the online pack because the coalition had learnt quickly from its bruising 2008 performance.
Asked whether they have managed to win over the youth who primarily populate cyberspace, Khairy dismissed the perception that they are pro-opposition as "simplistic'.
"Look at popular social media sites. BN leaders are now ahead of Pakatan leaders in terms of number of followers.
"They are an issues-based demographic, I don't think they just lean one way," he said, adding that they do not vote uniformly during elections.
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