Embrace social media or risk losing votes

Be on social media or you'll lose votes.

That was the call made by Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin to candidates in the upcoming general election who have yet to engage the masses through social media platforms.

In an interview with Astro Awani Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin urged candidates to engage with the public on platforms like Instagram, Google Plus and Pinterest in addition to the already popular platforms like Twitter and Facebook.

“You have to look at the internet penetration and you have to look at the number of people as more and more people are connected in Malaysia. Many of us have smartphones with access to the internet," Khairy said.

That tells you that if you’re not on social media, if you’re not getting your message on social media then you’re going to pay for it in the general elections.”

Instead of issuing press releases via Facebook or posting official photos on Instagram, Khairy urged politicians to be more personalised on social media,

“Post photos of yourself, candid photos with your family. It’s personalised and people like that. Social media democratises information and engagement. There is no protocol. Don’t treat it as something official because it is not,” he added.