A Review Of The Presidential Hopefuls’ Social Media Campaigns

Remember that I am only talking about their social media campaign. This has nothing to do with what I think about their character/personalities, and says nothing about whether they will be a good president. I just thought that Ng Kok Song’s campaign is something that I would want to emulate if I ever do run for an election.

So far the presidential candidates have put in good effort in their social media campaigns. All three of them (Tharman, George Goh, Ng Kok Song) barely had any social media presence prior to this election. They have really upped their game in this aspect, participating in TikTok challenges or even collaborating with influencers. I can tell that they do see the importance of platforms like TikTok and Instagram to reach the younger generation.

I am writing this review as someone who only knew of Tharman before this. In terms of how much more I have learnt about each candidate in this short period of time from their social media campaign, I’d have to say that Ng Kok Song’s team made the best effort.

STYLE

Ng Kok Song’s content are all to-the-point and easy to digest. Each video has one clear point that he is making. It also helps that his colour scheme, font, style is very clean and consistent across all his videos. Tharman does have a consistent style that is interrupted by the occasional TikTok challenge. As for George Goh, he uses different fonts, different colours, different styles for each video, making his profiles seem messy.

MESSAGE

Every video Ng Kok Song puts out shows us a new side of him. From his relationship with his fiancé, to his outlook on the vulnerable population of Singapore. I would rank George Goh as no.2 in this aspect — his videos tell us about his philanthropic side, and emphasizes his independence. However, he does more “telling” than “showing”. Tharman’s videos make me feel like all he’s trying to say is “hey I can be trendy too” (look at his Douyin Frog dance challenge video which in my opinion really does not help in a presidential campaign).

OVERALL

Remember that I am only talking about their social media campaign. This has nothing to do with what I think about their character/personalities, and says nothing about whether they will be a good president. I just thought that Ng Kok Song’s campaign is something that I would want to emulate if I ever do run for an election.

(p.s. I didn’t consider Tan Kin Lian because his social media campaign really pales in comparison to these three and I don’t think I need to say more.)