Impact of New Media on General Election 2011

Whether the general election in May deserved the epithet of ‘Singapore’s First Internet Election”, there is no doubt that new media played a significant role in the way political parties and candidates communicated with voters, and the way citizens communicated with one another. The Institute of Policy Studies is bringing you a conference aimed at a more insightful understanding of the impact of the Internet on the polls. This one-day event will showcase a multi-study project led by IPS that brings together a dozen researchers from several other institutions including the National University of Singapore, the Nanyang Technological University and SIM University.

The studies focus on the impact of what is done online and offline by the different players (parties and candidates, bloggers, mainstream media, opinion makers; voters); the consequences to the voter (their political knowledge, the perception of candidates and parties; and their voting behaviour); and the role of technology (social media, mobile telephony). One highlight of the conference is a nation-wide survey of voters that reveals how they use different media, from newspapers to television, blogs, Facebook and Twitter. The survey also examines their political attitudes, their political activities during the polls and their voting decisions.

Please click here to view the programme.

Downloads:

• Media Myths and Realities: Findings of National Survey of Media Use in The General Election
• Welcome Remarks by Mr Janadas Devan
• Remarks by Associate Professor Cherian George, Editorial Stances and Strategies of Alternative Online Media
• Text of presentation by Associate Professor Cherian George, Diverse Strategies in Political Blogs' Election Coverage
• Presentation slides by Assistant Professor Debbie Goh, Party Websites and Blogs: The Good, The Bad and The Toxic
• Presentation slides by Assistant Professor Natalie Pang, Party Websites and Blogs: The Good, The Bad and The Toxic
• Presentation slides by Dr Paul Wu, Associate Professor Randolph Tan and Dr Carol Soon, Agenda-Setting: What and How
• Presentation slides by Assistant Professor Debbie Goh, Voter Knowledge and Media Use
• Presentation slides by Assistant Professor Natalie Pang, Voter Response to Conflicting Information
• Presentation slides by Assistant Professor Zhang Weiyu, Political Talk During Election Time
• Presentation slides by Assistant Professor Trisha Lin and Professor Alice Hong , Youth, New Media and Political Participation in the Election
• Presentation slides by Assistant Professor Marko Skoric, Facebook, Mobile Phones and Political Participation in the Election
• Presentation slides by Assistant Professor Xu Xiaoge, Political Parties Contesting on Twitter: Who Won The Battle?

Media Reports:

• The Wall Street Journal. 2011. Poll Questions Social Media’s Influence in Singapore Politics, 6 October 
• The Straits Times. 2011. Internet 'did not have decisive effect on GE', says study, 5 October 
• The Straits Times. 2011. PAP, WP put out least content on Facebook and Twitter, 5 October 
• The Straits Times. 2011. The wired and the young, 5 October 
• Today. 2011. General Election was not an Internet election, says IPS survey  5 October 
• Today. 2011. Youths 'relied on traditional mass media', 5 October 
• Yahoo News. 2011. GE2011: The internet election that wasn’t, 5 October
• My Paper. 2011. GE not an "internet election", 5 October
• 联合早报. 2011. 政策研究院调查：新媒体在大选中没起决定性作用, 5 October
• 联合早报. 2011. 34岁以下年轻选民 比较可能把票投给反对党, 5 October
• Today. 2011. Was GE2011 an 'Internet election'? Not really, a survey finds, 4 October 
• Channel News Asia. 2011. GE not "Internet election", says survey, 4 October 
• Channel News Asia. 2011. Younger S'poreans "more likely to back opposition", 4 October