Umno leaders to look into criticism of social media strategy

 

Shahril Hamdan said there is asymmetry in social media traction opportunities, while Wan Agyl Wan Hassan said Umno is aware of its needs.

PETALING JAYA: Two Umno leaders have said they will take into consideration comments made against Barisan Nasional’s lack of presence on social media.

Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan said BN leaders would consider any fair critique of it and not dismiss third-party advice on improving its election campaign methods.

Yesterday, Romen Bose, who wrote a book on BN’s downfall at the 2018 general election, said BN continues to lack a proper social media infrastructure and strategy.

Shahril said Bose raised “a fair point that there is a large segment of the population which will never be touched by BN’s traditional ground game”.

“We will take comments like that as a challenge to improve, better utilise the digital infrastructure at our disposal, and let the general election results have the final say,” he said.

He added that BN’s social media platforms, led by Umno Supreme Council member Shamsul Anuar Nasarah, had various action plans and resources at its disposal.

Federal Territories Umno information chief Wan Agyl Wan Hassan said there was some truth to Bose’s comments about BN’s inability to appeal to urban voters.

“Rural voters might be a different scenario but I wouldn’t discount his comment. I believe Umno is aware and will take it into consideration when planning its election manifesto and offerings,” Wan Agyl said.

Bose, a former communications consultant to Najib Razak, told FMT yesterday that Umno and its allies in BN seemed to be repeating the same mistakes that led to their ouster in the 2018 election.

The paradox of incumbency

Shahril added that while social media could be useful to a political party seeking to become the government, once there, it becomes one of its biggest threats.

“One has to account for the asymmetry in social media traction opportunities between the government and opposition, especially at the federal level where issues are national,” said Shahril, who is the economic adviser to Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Shahril added that the government in power would always be disadvantaged on social media as the opposition would use it to point out “gaps and weaknesses”, without having to offer solutions.

“Even BN benefitted from this same phenomenon when we were in opposition for 22 months. Hence the paradox,” Shahril said.

Wan Agyl added that while Umno and BN did well on Facebook, they lacked a presence on Twitter, which could prove to be “dangerous” if left unmanaged. - FMT