Singapore - General Election not an "internet election" : IPS study

SINGAPORE: Singapore's recent general election was viewed by some as an "internet election", but a joint survey by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) suggests this may not be the case.

The survey of 2,000 respondents was conducted two weeks after the May election, and sought to find out the extent to which new media sites like Facebook and blogs influenced votes.

The survey found that media consumption remain centred on traditional media such as TV, newspapers and radio, with only about 30 per cent of respondents also looking at new media sites such as Facebook and blogs for election news during the election period.

Traditional media was also seen as more trustworthy.

The survey found that, contrary to the view of the internet as a "lunatic fringe", this 30 per cent were more open to different media channels and were more knowledgeable and less cynical about politics.

Within this group, more also said they voted for the People's Action Party (PAP) rather than for the opposition.

Of the respondents, only two in five revealed who they voted for.

More than half said they had made up their mind before the election was announced.

The survey was conducted by Mr Tan Tarn How and Mr Arun Mahizhan from IPS and Prof Ang Peng Hwa of the NTU's Internet Research Centre.

At a presentation on Tuesday morning, they said their study concluded that the impact of any media - internet or traditional- on voting behaviour was low.

The authors also said, while the internet played a critical role in the recent election compared to 2006, it is still too early to conclude that it can play a decisive role in swinging votes.

They conceded they could have further investigated the role of new media on influencing voting decisions once the election was underway.

- CNA/fa


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