Forum Views ()
Forum Replies ()
Read more with google mobile :
Facebook, YouTube the new battlegrounds in Singapore elections
|
Edition:
U.S.
Article
Comments (0)
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Boehner opens door to cutting U.S. oil tax breaks
8:26am EDT
Woman mauled to death by pit bulls in New Mexico
25 Apr 2011
More twisters expected after storm killed seven in Arkansas
9:44am EDT
Five women brutally murdered in Mexico beach resort
23 Apr 2011
Sony chases Apple with launch of Android tablet
|
9:12am EDT
Discussed
140
Texas governor calls for prayers for rain
136
Obama sees no magic bullet to push down gas prices
64
U.S. sends drones to Libya as battle rages for Misrata
Watched
Taliban prisoners escape Afghan jail
Mon, Apr 25 2011
NATO jets bomb Gaddafi compound
Mon, Apr 25 2011
Afghans show prison break tunnel
Mon, Apr 25 2011
Facebook, YouTube the new battlegrounds in Singapore elections
Tweet
Share this
By Kevin Lim and Walter Sim
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The odds are always stacked against opposition candidates in Singapore elections and for Nicole Seah, a political novice contesting in the backyard of a popular former prime minister, they should be...
Email
Print
Related News
India arrests ex-games chief as telecoms case widens
Mon, Apr 25 2011
Royal wedding mentioned every 10 seconds online: study
Thu, Apr 21 2011
NY Times gains online subscribers, but woes linger
Thu, Apr 21 2011
At Facebook headquarters, Obama seeks 2008 campaign energy
Wed, Apr 20 2011
Attacks on media intense in Middle East unrest
Wed, Apr 20 2011
Analysis & Opinion
Guest contribution-Will Pakistan go the Middle East way?
The water’s fine, but maybe don’t come in
Related Topics
Technology »
The Facebook page of opposition National Solidarity Party (NSP) candidate Nicole Seah is seen on an iPad screen in this photo illustration taken in Singapore April 26, 2011. The odds are always stacked against opposition candidates in Singapore elections and for Seah, a political novice from the NSP, contesting in the backyard of a popular former prime minister, they should be overwhelming. However, the winsome 24-year-old is already the city-state's second-most ''liked'' politician on Facebook and she enjoys a higher profile than many seasoned campaigners. As Singapore gears up for elections on May 7, no one is sure how social media like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter will affect the outcome. What is clear is these outlets are sharply different to the pro-government local newspapers and TV.
Credit: Reuters/Tim Chong
By Kevin Lim and Walter Sim
SINGAPORE |
Tue Apr 26, 2011 6:36am EDT
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The odds are always stacked against opposition candidates in Singapore elections and for Nicole Seah, a political novice contesting in the backyard of a popular former prime minister, they should be overwhelming.
But are they? The winsome 24-year-old is already the city-state's second-most "liked" politician on Facebook and she enjoys a higher profile than many seasoned campaigners. She has clips on YouTube and is avidly discussed in blogs.
As Singapore gears up for elections on May 7, no one is sure how social media like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter will affect the outcome. What is clear is these outlets are sharply different to the pro-government local newspapers and TV.
"What used to be mere coffee shop talk can now enter the public discourse, for better or worse," says Cherian George, associate journalism professor at Nanyang Technological University.
"Whether it will have any impact and to whose benefit is anyone's guess."
The People's Action Party (PAP), which has ruled Singapore with an iron grip since independence in 1965, usually wins elections by a huge margin. But at the last election in 2006, when it won 82 of 84 seats, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter either did not exist or were in their infancy and confined to the West.
According to the government's Info-communications Development Authority, 81 percent of Singapore households had access to the Internet at the end of 2009.
TOP SOURCE
Facebook is particularly popular in the wealthy Southeast Asian city-state where there are an estimated 2.5 to 3 million users in a population of 5.1 million, according to industry estimates.
In a recent survey by the Straits Times newspaper, 36.3 percent of people between the ages of 21 and 34 cited the Internet as their top source of local political news compared with 35.3 percent who preferred newspapers.
According to local media, "Generation Y" citizens, or those born after 1975, make up one in four voters. And opposition parties have been quick to take note.
"There is this explosion of new media tools and we have been able to use them effectively to reach out and tell the truth about our party and what we stand for," Chee Soon Juan, secretary-general of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), told Reuters.
But despite the Internet's growing reach, Singapore's newspapers and TV stations continue to command a much wider audience. The Straits Times, for example, has an average daily circulation of 350,000 while the Online Citizen, a popular Singapore news and commentary site, gets around 25,000 hits a day.
Singapore Press Holdings, which has a near-monopoly on newspapers in the city-state, follows a strongly pro-government line. MediaCorp, which runs the TV stations, is a unit of state investor Temasek.
Seah, who set up her Facebook page just a week ago, had already received 22,372 "likes" as at 4 pm on April 26, far more than any Singapore politician other than the country's senior statesman Lee Kuan Yew.
Still, that may not be enough for her and her alliance from the National Solidarity Party to unseat the team from the PAP led by former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong in a five-seat, winner-takes-all constituency.
"Social media has been more useful in forging connections between parties and sympathizers, for example, by helping party members identify people they could engage with in party activities," said Giorgos Cheliotis, who teaches communications and new media at the National University of Singapore.
"But I do not think that it has much power in swaying public opinion."
(Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Alex Richardson)
Technology
Tweet this
Share this
Link this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story directly or with relevant tangential information. We try to block comments that use offensive language, all capital letters or appear to be spam, and we review comments frequently to ensure they meet our standards. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters.
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on reuters.com.
Add yours using the box above.
Social Stream (What's this?)
© Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters
Editorial Editions:
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
United States
Reuters
Contact Us
Advertise With Us
Help
Journalism Handbook
Archive
Site Index
Video Index
Reader Feedback
Mobile
Newsletters
RSS
Podcasts
Widgets
Your View
Analyst Research
Thomson Reuters
Copyright
Disclaimer
Privacy
Professional Products
Professional Products Support
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Careers
Online Products
Acquisitions Monthly
Buyouts
Venture Capital Journal
International Financing Review
Project Finance International
PEhub.com
PE Week
FindLaw
Super Lawyers Attorney Rating Service
Reuters on Facebook
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.
Other News on Tuesday, 26 April 2011 Residents tell grim story of assault on Syrian city
|
Mauritanian police use teargas to break up protest
|
Nintendo to launch new Wii in 2012 as profit slips
|
Yahoo buys TV check-in company IntoNow
|
Barnes & Noble improves Nook Color to take on iPad
|
BlackBerry firm seeks security balance in Russia
|
Analysis: On Cloud 2: making fans of customers on social media
|
Leaked Guantanamo files reveal detainee details: report
|
China to punish Baidu for illegal music downloads
|
Samsung, Sony JV to cut capital as Sony struggles with TV loss
|
Iran says it has detected second cyber attack
|
U.S. surpasses UK in online coverage of Will and Kate
|
Cowell wants Paula Abdul, Cheryl Cole for 'X Factor'
|
Crowe pays homage to Elton John, Leon Russell
|
Broadway expands its stage with movie theater shows
|
Prince's 17 remaining L.A. shows cloaked in mystery
|
Some 500 arrested in Syria crackdown: rights group
|
Ukraine marks Chernobyl anniversary, eyes Fukushima
|
U.S. charges Pakistanis in 2008 Mumbai attack plot
|
Strong quake hits Central Java, no tsunami: agency
|
Two bombs hit Pakistan navy buses in Karachi, 4 dead
|
U.N. chief says can't order probe into Sri Lanka war
|
Thai, Cambodia troops clash close to Preah Vihear temple
|
Sony unveils its first tablet computers to take on
|
Nintendo CEO: alliances with other firms may be needed
|
Oracle replaces CFO as Safra Catz gets the job again
|
Amazon betting on cloud computing, sacrificing some profit
|
U.S. surpasses UK in online coverage of Will and Kate
|
Lindsay Lohan to appear on Tonight Show
|
Cowell wants Paula Abdul, Cheryl Cole for 'X Factor'
|
Crowe pays homage to Elton John, Leon Russell
|
Broadway expands its stage with movie theater shows
|
Egyptian film hopes to be liberated by revolution
|
Water for Elephants a lost opportunity
|
Prince's 17 remaining L.A. shows cloaked in mystery
|
Yemen deal may be done within week: officials
|
U.S. and Britain to step up pressure on Gaddafi
|
Iran wants Shourd to return from U.S. for trial
|
Afghan justice minister says mass jail escape had inside help
|
Pakistan defends spy agency ISI, rejects criticism
|
Thai and Cambodian troops exchange fire near ancient temple
|
Rebuilding Japan's disaster-hit towns may take a decade
|
Egypt adjourns trial of former interior minister
|
Is Europe ready to put its data in the clouds?
|
China internet market should not be treated differently: Exec
|
EA's COO leaves for Zynga
|
Plagiarism hunters plague German politicians
|
Facebook, YouTube the new battlegrounds in Singapore elections
|
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights