The 2011 General Elections in Singapore were also known to some observers as a "watershed election". Adrianna Tan, who was the digital engagement team leader for the opposition party, the National Solidarity Party, shares a few stories, and the game plan for moving forward. This presentation was prepared for The New Media Asia 2011 conference, held on 12 May 2011 at Royale Bintang Kuala Lumpur.

1. WHAT’S KATE SPADE GOT TO DO WITH IT?
social media at #sgelections 2011

2. Who Am I?
Adrianna Tan,
Digital Engagement Team Leader,
National Solidarity Party
http://www.twitter.com/skinnylatte
skinnylatte@gmail.com
Prepared for The New Media Asia 2011 Conference,
Royale Bintang Kuala Lumpur

3. When the ruling party announces a candidate...
Singaporeans usually don’t care.
However, we looked them up on Facebook this year.

4. And we found this.
So we looked again, on
YouTube. And found....

5. Thus several memes were born.
“don’t know what to say”, “sarah peiling”, “kate spade, kate spade!”, “foot stomp!”

6. 2006 vs 2011
Twitter and Facebook only used by Twitter and Facebook used by
early adopters everyone and their dog
Blogs and audio podcasts were main Blogs, news, Facebook notes,
sources of ‘alternative’ news alternative news sites (all connected
to Twitter and Facebook)
‘Internet advertising’ was banned
during the campaign period Political parties declared ‘internet
advertising’, no restrictions for
No 3G, no smart-phones public
Top-down flow of information Live-stream, live-tweet rallies, signs
of groundswell

7. #sgelections
watershed elections
nearly everybody got to vote, every constituency (except one)
contested for first time in our history
multiple channels of communications, information flowed in
many directions
bypass state media for first time

8. Background
State-controlled media
Ranked below Iraq & Zimbabwe for press freedom
Climate of fear
Respect for elders and authority
Politics for the wise, the experienced, i.e. not for the people

9. #sgelections in hindsight
What and how was social media used at #sgelections?
How should it not be used?
What were the tools used (a) by parties (b) by voters (c) to
measure sentiment during the elections?
What can we expect from social media in #sgelections2016?

10. EVERYONE’S ONLINE
Every political party had a Facebook and Twitter account

11. #what #twitter

12. #what
#facebook
Every party, and nearly every
candidate, had a Facebook
page
Some administered more
expertly than others
Some obviously run by n00bs
Some more viral than others

13. #how #twitter #facebook
Inform
Update
Respond
Recruit
Cross-promote
Entertain
Appeal

14. Inform
Update
Respond

15. Recruit
Cross-promote
Entertain

16. Appeal
made it easier to solve one of the biggest hurdles for opposition
parties: access to manpower and resources

17. EVERYONE’S ONLINE
How did voters use Twitter and Facebook?

18. #how #voters
52.3% Facebook penetration
rate in Singapore
72% smartphone penetration
rate (5.2 million), 3rd highest

19. Voters went to rallies,

20. Voters went home to watch rallies they couldn’t be at,

21. Voters created their own hashtags like #NSPRally and discussed what
they thought

22. Voters asked questions on Facebook and were called ‘asinine’,

23. Voters created — and trended — the #PAPsmear hashtag,

24. Voters created — and indulged — parody accounts,

25. Voters spotted astroturfing,

26. Voters wrote — and shared — hundreds of amateur political
commentary posted on their Facebook notes, across the political
spectrum,

27. Voters and social media ninjas reported dirty political “business”,
prompting mainstream media to investigate,

28. Voters found out election results on Facebook and Twitter 3 hours
before the announcements and were amused official media had nothing
to report,

29. Voters made stars out of returning officers,

30. Voters made, and watched, funny DIY videos on YouTube,

31. WHAT’S THE ROI?
Measurables

32. Results Alone
Ruling party won 81 out of 87 seats, despite having one of the
worst social media execution
However, this imbalance comes from Singapore’s systemic
shortcomings as a democracy — failures of our First Past The
Post + Group Representation Constituency system
Social media showed serious kinks in the armour, voters’
mandate showed serious erosion to their vote share (all time low
since independence)

33. Building Capacity
Resources
Access and reach
Social media shifts goalposts a bit more fairly, for alternative
parties

34. The More Things Change
Political parties and candidates have learned they cannot ignore
social media
Those who had no online presence suffered
Those who had a good online strategy were helped by it, but
needed more than Facebook popularity

35. How should political parties
engage?
Run a coherent campaign
Social media people must be in sync with leadership and
candidates
Being patronizing hurts your image
Engage an agency with ‘buy in’, or find volunteers who are
politically savvy AND social media savvy. Cannot have one
without the other

36. USE THE RIGHT TOOLS
+10000 XP for
trying, though
and for...

37. Measurement
Your regular social media tracking tools
3rd party sentiment analysis tools sprung out
3rd party news tracking and aggregation tools appeared
That’s what happens when tech-savvy population and politically
minded devs come together at a “social media elections”

38. Measurement
http://www.sgpartyti.me/

39. Measurement
http://ge.swarm.is/

40. THE NEXT 5 YEARS
Until GE 2016

41. For all parties
Use social media platforms, established during GE 2011, to
build capabilities within our organizations
Recruit and maintain volunteer base
Update and inform of activities happening between 2011 - 2016
Constantly innovate, upgrade to latest tools
Get the best people to work on branding, media, social media
alongside recruiting new candidates

42. For voters
Continue the conversation that was started
Reach out to all political parties through social media
Inform ministers of your thoughts and opinions
Read more political commentary and news across all sources,
mainstream and alternative and through social media links
Reach out and volunteer to play active role in local politics

43. Likes =/ Votes
Yet Facebook and Twitter have provided valuable link to voters
50% of it is ‘noise’, but you better listen carefully to the other
50%
There are lots of people who want to, and can, help
Deploy comprehensive media strategy: cultivate mainstream and
alternative press relations, be genuine on social media,
constantly update, create various digital assets that link up
properly, have one central point of command for all digital assets

44. Social Media in 2016
Will be ‘faster, better, cheaper’
Needs to be cultivated NOW
You can’t get away without it, but you NEED to do it well
Social media didn’t exactly translate to votes in 2011, but it did
propel many candidates across the political spectrum into the
spotlight — and grant popularity, or create negative publicity
Role played by social media WILL get bigger, and it starts now

46. TTFN!