SHAH ALAM – Not long ago, the central battleground of a Malaysian election campaign was the ceramah – open-air night rallies where tens of thousands would gather to hear politicians speak.
In those spaces, the energy of the crowd often served as the closest available indicator of real-time public sentiment, offering a tangible sense of political momentum.
That battleground has not disappeared. However, it now exists alongside a far larger, noisier and significantly more complex counterpart – the social media ecosystem.
Here, political narratives form, evolve and dissolve at a pace no ceramah schedule could ever match.
In this digital arena, the gap between what trends online and what actually influences voters has become increasingly wide and arguably more consequential.
International Islamic University Malaysia Associate Professor Dr Shafizan Mohamed, who researches digital political communication said the shift from traditional media to social platforms has fundamentally altered how political narratives are constructed and sustained in Malaysia.
"Social media today is highly driven by political narratives, where supporters, influencers and ordinary users actively shape content to favour certain political figures or parties.
"This is not new, but has shifted from traditional media like newspapers, television and radio to digital platforms such as TikTok, X and Facebook," she said.