GE14: Sheer lucky coincidences or brilliant yet subtle social media strategising by PH? : Page 3 of 4

 

 

GE14: Sheer lucky coincidences or brilliant yet subtle social media strategising by PH? : Page 3 of 4

Significance of the 'Final Battle Cry'

In our current rendition of the GE14 Sentiment Analysis, four distinct influx points of the Twitter events generation were identified during 8th and 9th May 2018. On the 8th at around 12pm, there were an increased generation of Twitter events on the announcement that the Chairman of the BN Coalition will be making a “special announcement” later that night. A vague indication of upcoming “special message” in a time where distrust is the go-to sentiment for the general population, naturally, the BN Coalition remained on the negative sentiment up to the point of announcing the “special address”.

From our first article, the data revealed that the BN Coalition saw minimal organic content generated from voters contributing to the positive sentiment for BN. However, the negative sentiment associated with them saw a high volume of organic content generated which not only came from the PH Coalition but also the public at large. The BN Coalition did not make efforts needed to correct the negative sentiments tagged well ahead of GE14, and instead created an Election Engine which did not appear to address voter sentiment. Understanding this dynamic, the final battle cry promising income tax exemption for citizens aged 26 and below, two days of public holiday post GE14 and five days of toll charges suspension during the upcoming Eid Aidilfitri celebrations were an unfortunate alignment to the “cash is king” perception that was evident in early analysis of the BN Coalition.

Simple analytics using pre-election datasets and living dashboard of sentiments would have given the BN Coalition room to maneuver the development and delivery of their content. Instead, the inability to adapt and recalibrate strategically against the volatile and highly emotional voter sentiment essentially spelt the fall of a six-decade coalition party that started off as the very coalition that helped build our nation.

The Pakatan Harapan Coalition, once again either by sheer lucky coincidences or brilliant yet subtle social strategizing, constructed the perfect “David vs Golliath” narrative that held strong into Polling Day. Capitalising on BN’s single-persona brand built around its Chairman along with overwhelming negative sentiments that were not only addressed as a matter-of-national-interest, but chided as “ridiculous personal attacks”, the PH Coalition emerged as a solid coalition party with the credibility of a former Prime Minister strongly advocating for the glory days of Malaysia at its helm. Using an online social media platform to broadcast their own Final Battle Cry, they promised a potential government that would guide a nation out from its dark moments into the light of its prime. The words used in the “Amanat Malam Terakhir” (Final Night’s Mandate) delivered by the Chairman of the PH Coalition were straight-forward, infused with overtones of imploring the Rakyat for the opportunity to heal national wounds, while constantly using keywords that were a strong reminder of the growing negative sentiment against the BN Coalition.

The trending of sentiment following the conclusion of the final campaign speeches by both coalition chairmen made it clear that the keywords the PH Coalition used (i.e., “sogokan (kickbacks), gadaikan (to mortgage), selamatkan (save) not only nullified the positive sentiments that the BN Coalition may have with the announcement of their election goodies, but instead evoked a completely different purpose for GE14. It was not just an exercising of a voter’s democratic right, it was the responsibility to save the sovereignty of the nation. To some these may be deliberate political strategies played, but the data was already revealing these patterns and sentiments even before the dissolution of Parliament in April.

The PH Coalition were capturing and tactfully building early sentiment amongst voters, breaking into a sprint as they entered the last leg of the election race. Voters wanted to feel like their concerns were being heard, which PH echoed vocally in their finale speech. Bringing critical focus on the lack of BN addressing core contributing issues for its own negative sentiment, the PH Coalition built its own positive sentiment by painting the picture of a coalition that is willing to go against oppression and the uneven political arena built against them, all to protect and serve the only people that matter – the People of Malaysia.  

Next Page: Data Analytics & GE14 - Final Thoughts

 

 
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