The continuous debate as to which direction Uganda’s next election will take still rages on across all media, especially social media. Unlike the previous election which was like a ‘scientific election’, predominantly played on media platforms like radio, TV and social media, without public rallies due to COVID-19, this caused a lot of disagreement between politicians who thought the long serving President Yoweri Museveni was pulling another trick from his hat.
The role of the digital platforms in shaping the next elections is already showing the prominent role they will play in the political scene before the 2026 vote. Facebook, twitter, YouTube and various blogs are already shaping the debate, if you can take one example in the past weeks.
Historically, social media platforms are said to have played a significant role in previous elections of the world’s most powerful nations, the USA, with Barack Obama setting the stage, before Donald Trump riding on the same for his last elections – in more controversial circumstance – years later.
The role of digital platforms Facebook, WhatsApp, twitter YouTube, TikTok, and the traditional radio and television, is already on the mind of every Ugandan politician vying for national and local positions. There will be plenty of new voters, especially the youth, and guess what – they spend majority of their time on social media.
Uganda has one of the youngest populations in the world, according to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), there are approximately 14 million youth (aged 15–30) in Uganda, which constitutes about 31% of the country’s total population.
Candidates that are already using social media platforms during this election are already having the advantage of talking to well-targeted voters with direct access to potential voters.
Social media is one of the few marketing strategies that allow you to connect directly with your voters and to listen to each of them. You know who is interested in your political agenda because they choose to follow your social media accounts, or comment on it. You can gauge minute by minute the mood.
Digital platforms not only enable you to get instant feedback, but to be able to get analytics about the audience you are targeting – from age, region, and preferences etc. Just one well-crafted story by a candidate’s digital team for example could go viral, and win or turn the tide in an election. This has been notable by NUP presidential candidate Bobi Wine in the last elections when tear gas was used a lot unlike today where he moves freely and doesn’t make news anymore.
Ugandans on social media make it easier for a candidate to push their agendas to others for ‘free’ which is a great opportunity for candidates to reach a large pool of people that are interested in their agenda. This way you reach all possible voters by the click of a mouse within seconds.
Posts by a politician’s digital team will be multiplied to more target audiences, when shared by their potential voters. In this way, a completely new audience is reached that supports that particular politician, hence gain of more voters or supporters, voters are the native ones and supporters are global audiences for those people who are in love with politics.
Social media will also allow politicians to reach the said Ugandan younger audience that is increasingly resistant to traditional advertising tactics – which should naturally lead to an increase in voter turnout. It should be easy at this point to see the importance of social media in political campaigns, figuring out how to do it all right is the big challenge.
Social media influencers instead of campaign agents?
In steps the social media influencers, who individually can shape the thinking of thousands of potential voters.
The role of campaign agents in organizing the communities to participate has always been crucial. In the new normal, social media influences including the celebrities like musicians will hold the key to this many groupings of potential voters. President Museveni is already using this more than Bobi wine.
The influencer will create an election social media campaign to raise the politician’s profile on social media, and to get his key messages out to the voting public. He will decide on several platforms that can best reach the audience.
He or she will assemble a political social media team because everyone needs it today. They will help you manage your social media accounts if you already have, create CONTENT, respond to comments, and grow your social media following. Visuals and Videos will be a key part of all of this.
Politicians are well advised to follow the three models of communication such as Homestyle information provision (HIP), impression management strategy (IMS) and participatory communication strategy (PCS) and choose the one that predominates or main strategy to be used.
Social media influencers would be seen playing a great part due to their credibility and trust that they have with their followers. They have with the experience of being on the digital platforms for years, gathered skills that enable them to play the right tune to get the attention of the audience.
Influencers will effectively reach a politician’s target audience (voters) whereby they will share the content of the politicians to the front of social media users that are already interested in a politician’s agenda.
In conclusion, the wise Ugandan politicians will know digital will be the key whatever is decided. Social media is here to stay, and could decide if you are elected or not.
