Campaigning on social media platforms represents the most prominent arena in the electoral race, followed by campaigning on main streets in various cities and municipalities for the 7th Central Municipal Council (CMC) elections scheduled to be held on Jun. 22.
110 candidates are competing for 29 seats in 29 constituencies comprising more than 240 regions.
Candidates began highlighting their electoral programs since Sunday, June 11, and will continue until the 20th, the day before the election silence and election day.
The candidate's electoral programs, as monitored by Qatar News Agency (QNA), include several axes. The main focus is serving the country and the citizen, including improving public facilities, facilitating access to services provided to citizens, increasing green spaces and parks, raising the level of hygiene and interest in recycling in support of sustainability, and following up on the concerned authorities to complete infrastructure projects as quickly as possible.
The programs also include strengthening and organizing commercial areas and streets, developing rainwater drainage networks, community communication to find out the needs of each constituency, and other aspects that fall within the competence of the CMC.
While the candidate's pictures are spread throughout the main streets and squares, some of which are accompanied by phrases that reflect the electoral program, social media, especially Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat are filled with campaigns as they are the most prominent platforms to reach the Qatari voter.
It seems natural that a scene from the Municipal Council elections in 2019, albeit to a lesser extent, and the Shura Council elections in 2021 was repeated in light of the widespread use of social networks in Qatar. Statistics indicate that the State of Qatar is among the first countries in the world to use these means thanks to its strong and developed communications infrastructure.
In light of this, the use of social media for the CMC electoral campaign is very important for candidates to reach a broad base of voters, experts, and media professionals confirm.
Professor of TV and Digital Journalism at the Department of Mass Communication at Qatar University (QU) Dr. Abdulrahman Al Shami affirmed in a statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA) that choosing the appropriate media is one of the key factors of a successful communication message. Without a suitable medium that fits the audience, success will not be achieved in the desired manner.
The youth occupies a large percentage of Qatar's total population. Since they have a strong presence in social media, it is important means of communication to use for candidates to reach their voters, he said.
In the State of Qatar and the Gulf region in general, there is a wide presence on social networks such as Twitter and Instagram. So, from this standpoint, these networks are considered one of the most important platforms for election candidates to present their electoral programmes, he added.
Dr. Al Shami listed some of the characteristics and positives of social media platforms compared to traditional media (newspapers, radio, television), such as the rapid access to the target audience, the accurate selection of the communication message, the power of influence and persuasion, and identifying the target audience's characteristics, pointing out that there is no other form of communication that can determine the characteristics of the target audience like social media platforms.
He explained that the algorithms on which these means and platforms are based, enable to build a database on the audience's characteristics and this information is made available to those wishing to reach a target audience, which is one of the strongest elements that social networks enjoy.
In turn, journalist Abdulaziz Al Ishaq told QNA that the wide use of social media in Qatar, its ability to present content different from traditional campaigning, and the speed of reaching the target audience, tempt candidates to resort and focus on presenting their electoral programs.
Al Ishaq referred to this interactive technique as very effective if utilized deliberately. Additionally, the cost of publication is usually much lower compared to traditional advertising in the press, radio, and television.
These elections in particular are witnessing a large participation of candidates on social media, and perhaps the Shura Council elections encouraged people to run in these elections and compete through these means to attract voters, he added.
Today, the power of influence is shifting from traditional media to social media. However, this does not mean the absence of traditional media, as they are present in electoral propaganda, he continued.
Regarding the impact and role of information and communication technology in the candidates' electoral campaigns, IT expert Khaled Al Amari said that these modern means provided many options for the candidates and facilitated access and interaction between candidates and voters.
He believed that traditional media may not attract the new generation of young people who are attracted to modern means of communication. The candidate is keen to reach these groups and attract them to the electoral propaganda.
Al Amari explained that social media allows the design and preparation of content directed to a specific segment or group of society, or in addressing an issue in a specific geographical area, which makes it widespread and covers various groups, especially if the candidate uses several platforms to display their electoral program.
He pointed out that these platforms provide instantaneous interaction with content, allowing the candidate to address the voters interactively and at any time. He said that social media allows flexibility in dealing with electoral campaigns and great dialogue and interaction, which makes the candidate closer to the voter as they can perceive the needs of the municipality and may modify some aspects of his electoral campaign based on the interaction, orientations, and demands of the voters.
Source: Qatar News Agency