Today at any gathering of communicators, journalists
and marketers, the impacts and possibilities of social media for connecting
groups and social networking are some of the most vigorously talked about topics?
Not only since Barack Obama’s successful use of online communication, but also
among politicians of all persuasions and ages. Also, the new medium
increasingly attracts the interest of civil society activists, policy makers,
and development organizations.
The
political scene in Pakistan is in full heat midst all the uncomfortable
steam of the governance chaos, economic instability, war on terror, energy
crisis and all that is constantly aired on the domestic and global news and
media. Despite all this chaos and pitfalls of democracy in Pakistan, the
political stage is getting ready for the best election drama of the new
millennium, a moment in history that everyone across the world will be
interested in following. What will be the future of Pakistan and its
governance?
Now hardcore
politics is not the focus of this discussion but more on how the political
parties and key political actors have taken to the Internet, World Wide
Web and Social Media to heat up the political battle ground for
upcoming elections. There is not a single domestic television program, anchor
or analyst who may not be using the Internet and World Wide Web as a means to
have an interactive dialogue with their audiences and citizenry of Pakistan.
According to Jared Cohen, Director Google Ideas, “Ten
years ago, the number of people who had access to the Internet was 361 million;
today it’s two billion. In the year 2000, (only) 300,000 people in Pakistan
were using cell phones; today it’s 100 million. You can’t say technology
doesn’t matter.” Reportedly, there are over 20 million internet users and three
million bloggers in Pakistan. Considering these statistics, technology and
ultimately, social media can shape the future of the country.
People tweeting on news, political and social affairs
are usually journalists and avid internet users, but also politicians. The
assassinated Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer was known for his activity on
Twitter, sending out regular messages with comments on daily politics. The
Minister of the Interior Rehman Malik and the former mayor of Karachi, Syed
Mustafa Kamal also use the micro blogging services.
During the Pakistan Blog Awards 2011 ceremony in
Karachi, Imran Khan stated that social media played an important part in
harboring a revolution in any country because most of the social media
activists and users are the Youth acknowledging this role played by the young
during the Arab Spring and revolutions in the Middle East and Northern Africa.
His rally was broadcast live by the party Social Media Team across the world
using live stream generating a continuously rising following of
over 30,000 viewers mostly from around the globe.
Also Prime Minister Mr. Muhammad Nawaz
Sharif's party is also now seemingly using its provincial government
infrastructure to initiate and lead a Social Media effort. PML (N) official
website mostly portraying its leader's imagery is located here. Mr. Shahbaz
Sharif has a Facebook Page here and Twitter following here that
appears to be more personality driven than party driven but lacking the
following that Imran Khan and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf enjoy online.
While on the other head, Facebook and Twitter allowed
the protesters to write history as they pleased by shaping a narrative and
sticking to it. Consequently, electronic media helped create negative
sentiments against the government. While Facebook was the meeting point for
cyber activism, Twitter was useful in spreading the word out to broader world.
It greatly helped in gaining the attention of the world community.
Conclusively, social media is on the rise, and it has
helped young people be heard. With over 63% of Pakistan’s population under the
age of 25, social media empowers young people and ensures sociopolitical
transformation in the country. With the growth of Internet in Pakistan, the
rapidly expanding online population is feeling more empowered than ever to
engage in free expression as part of their growing political and social
activism.
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