Tweeting About a Revolution
By Marcus van Geyzel
As the world works itself into a collective frenzy over a social media revolution, it is easy to get carried away and overhype the effect of what is, in reality, just another mode of communication. The current social media darlings are, of course, Facebook and Twitter, and self-proclaimed "social media experts / gurus" have been lining up in the past couple of years to preach to the unconverted print media publishers, businessmen, public figures and the public at large to jump on the train before they get left at the station, alone and rueful. The social media spotlight is now very much on Twitter, whose ubiquity has culminated with prominent features on Oprah, US late-night talk-shows, CNN and a TIME cover story entitled "How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live." Yes, I did say it was a frenzy.
Many Malaysian social media experts have claimed that Malaysia is also being swept along by this social media revolution. Naysayers point to the fact that the percentage of Malaysians who participate in social media is so low that any talk of a revolution is obviously premature. Who is right?
The development of social media
There is no globally-agreed definition of "social media". In essence, social media is distinguished from traditional media - such as newspapers, magazines, television and radio - by the fact that it is not finite. It is not limited by a fixed number of pages or time, and people can participate (hence making it "social") by commenting on, discussing, or even adding directly to, the content. Using a very wide definition, social media could therefore even include media such as email and discussion forums.
Of course, there are cynics who scoff at "social media" and its proponents, claiming that social media is nothing revolutionary at all. This group are of the view that "social media" and "Web 2.0" are just terms used by hype-monger techies who just need something to gush about. Even now, the term "Web 3.0" is already being freely bandied about. Those who play down the significance of social media will even argue that the entire internet is, and has always been, social media anyway.
For the sake of this article, we will settle on a definition of social media as an internet medium in which interaction between people plays a significant role. Even with this definition, social media is nothing new. In fact, it can be said to have been around since the beginning of the Web. GeoCities is often cited as one of the first major social media networks. It created a network of users who could, with very basic computer know-how, put content on the internet, and communicate about it. These websites evolved into blogs, which have been around for so long now that they seem like dinosaurs, tech-wise. The evolution carried onto photos, music and video - giving birth to huge communities like MySpace, YouTube and Flickr.
The much-heralded emergence of Twitter is backed by reliable figures. Research shows that the service currently has more than 30 million users - which is astounding when compared to an estimated 2 million users in early 2008.
Social media in Malaysia
The popularity of social media in Malaysia has grown over the years, in line with the global trend. As a new - more internet-savvy - generation arrived, services like Friendster boomed amongst Malaysians. I remember signing up for Facebook years ago and being able to only find my former uni-mates from Europe as active users. Now, I can hardly think of any Malaysians who do not have an account.
The serious side of social media really became popular when blogs came to the fore. Bloggers such as Jeff Ooi pioneered the concept of an alternative, uncensored, and reliable source of information that Malaysians could turn to. As awareness grew, so did disillusionment with the traditional mass media coverage of events, building greater audiences for internet news sources such as Jeff Ooi's blog, Malaysiakini, Malaysia Today and onto current portals such as TheNutGraph and Malaysian Insider.
Twitter has recently come to life in Malaysia. This is not to say that it was unknown prior to 2009, but that it is now the topic of mainstream conversations. Newspapers regularly tweet their headlines and interact with other Twitter users, with the link "Follow us on Twitter" featuring prominently on websites such as The Star. But the real confirmation that Twitter has grown out of its Malaysian incipiency is the active tweeting of major political figures such as Lim Kit Siang, Khairy Jamaluddin, Jeff Ooi, Tony Pua and even the Prime Minister, Najib Razak. Updates on political developments in Perak, police arrests under the Sedition Act, candlelight vigils, protests, elections and rallies have turned Twitter into a reliable source of the most current news.
Is social media changing Malaysia?
So, is Malaysia in the grip of a social media revolution in a manner that is poised to have an impact on society as whole? Taking into consideration the percentage of the population involved, the response leans towards the negative. It is difficult to find reliable figures on the number of Twitter users in Malaysia, but most sources agree that it would be less than 15,000. This number is a very negligible percentage of the population, as is even dwarfed by the number of Facebook users on the Malaysia network - more than 500,000.
Facebook is not used as much more than personal communication - photos and status updates from the lives of individuals. Online media such as Malaysia Today, Malaysiakini, Malaysian Insider and prominent political blogs have helped immeasurably in providing an alternate news source - and attract a lot of user traffic. However, the comments sections on these websites are hardly arenas of interaction, and serve more as a public wall for people to get on their soapbox and have quick rants.
As for Twitter, the number of active Malaysians on the service is very low. Many of the newspapers mentioned earlier also treat it more as a "headline feed" more than an interactive communication service, as do most of the major political figures mentioned earlier. Despite the few instances where Twitter has managed to "break" news or provide far superior "on the ground" coverage, the fact that the tweets are read by so few minimises their impact in reality. As the service becomes more and more popular, it will also prove very difficult to filter the noise from the news - many tweets prove to be factually unreliable or overly emotional, or just repeats of something said earlier - a problem that users in the U.S. are grappling with at the moment.
Having said all of that, most new innovations experience birth-pains. When blogs and alternative online news portals first surfaced, everyone doubted their reliability, and they were downplayed as being just about as influential as opposition newsletters. Now, every newspaper has a website, and puts a significant amount of thought and resources into improving the content quality. This is testimony to the fact that many Malaysians now go online for their news, rather than reading physical newspapers. As recent figures indicate that Malaysian blog traffic has steadily decreased, and Twitter traffic steadily increases, who is to say that the shift from blogs to Twitter will not materialise?
Awakening a new generation
It is all about taking small steps. The real "revolution" that social media is bringing to Malaysia - even now - is the development of social ideas. Information is power, and communication is the key to harnessing and channelling that power. Social media such as blogs, websites, Facebook and Twitter allow Malaysians to interact in online communities. They exchange information, ideas, opinions, comments, and slowly but surely shape a society's culture. Significantly, the internet is a great flattener of influence - you do not have to be in Barisan Nasional, a prominent opposition politician, or a senior journalist in order to have your opinion heard. Every individual, from any station in society, has the same opportunity to influence the community.
So let us not focus on social media per se, but instead look at the change in attitude and mindset that the internet generation has brought to Malaysia. We now believe in the real possibility of a two-party democracy. Malaysians grow increasingly assured that major abuses of power and injustices will not go unnoticed or unpunished. Knowledge increases and ignorance and apathy slowly dissipate. There may not be a social media revolution in the way that TIME trumpets Twitter as re-shaping the world. But who cares about the specific service - remember Friendster? - there is definitely a revolution taking place in the hearts and minds of Malaysians. Here's hoping it keeps going.
Marcus van Geyzel is not a social media expert. He practises corporate and commercial law in Kuala Lumpur and is a regular contributor to The Edge Financial Weekly. He believes that information is power, and wishes that his fellow Malaysians will awaken themselves from their selfish apathy to care about their country in a positive manner.