Think tank Political Studies for Change (KPRU) holds the view that the new method of attracting the technocrats in Malaysia is through Youtube. It is free to see that Youtube users are an untapped source of voters for the poltical parties of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (KEADILAN) and Barisan Nasional (BN) during this run up to the 13th General Election (GE13).
Table 1: A Pool Sample of Chosen Video Clips featuring Political Parties and Political Leaders
| No | Video | Views | Likes | Dislikes |
| 1. | Guan Eng di mata mereka…. “Kari Kepala Ikan & Seluar Pendek” | 125,826 | 1,687 | 77 |
| 2. | 1马工作团队 – Love Is In The Air | 79,301 | 202 | 2,536 |
| 3. | Mendaki Politik Baru – Zairil Khir Johari dan Steven Sim Chee Keong | 3,379 | 64 | 3 |
| 4. | 颜骏任 Frankie Gan Joon Zin – 我问天 | 12,509 | 21 | 294 |
| 5. | Mat Taib sah sertai PAS | 32,786 | 340 | 11 |
| 6. | PRU-13 : Wajib Undi Barisan Nasional pada Pilihan Raya Umum ini | 492 | 5 | 13 |
| 7. | Bajet 2013 Khas: Tanya Najib [Secara Langsung] | 129,336 | 627 | 15,153 |
| 8. | Borak bersama Anwar 17 August 2012 #BorakAnwar (English) | 30,451 | 175 | 64 |
| 9. | Borak bersama Anwar 17 August 2012 #BorakAnwar (BM) | 23,152 | 132 | 18 |
| 10 | Anwar Ibrahim: Saya Yakin Akan Ada Perubahan Besar Dalam Masa Singkat | 4,949 | 66 | 4 |
| 11 | Najib dimalukan penonton Psy di Pulau Pinang? | 264,061 | 592 | 86 |
| 12 | Najib: Are You Ready For BN? People: Nooo! – CNY @ Penang , PSY- Gangnam | 185,635 | 933 | 78 |
| 13 | #SoalJawabTunMahathir TV3 FULL | 13,832 | 191 | 16 |
| 14 | Ubah Rocket Style | 347,112 | 2884 | 357 |
| 15 | UBAH Rocket Style (Malaysian Gangnam Parody) English Version | 227,141 | 2374 | 154 |
| 16 | Video Kempen Wanita PRU13: Tangan Mu | 27,705 | 307 | 10 |
| 17 | PRU-13 : BN Lancar Manifesto 6 April 2013 Untuk Rakyat Nilai | 1,948 | 14 | 31 |
| 18 | Vote for us and get more cash, BN tells Malaysia | 13,851 | 16 | 507 |
| 19 | Manifesto: Menepati Janji, Membawa Harapan | 3,050 | 30 | 48 |
| 20 | BN ciplak manifesto Pakatan dengan ketara | 8,067 | 99 | 10 |
| 21 | Inside Story – Is it time for change in Malaysia? | 72,895 | 402 | 63 |
| 22 | Mixed reviews for Najib’s CNY video | 28,769 | 76 | 343 |
| 23 | Malaysian opposition leader speaks to Al Jazeera | 45,093 | 492 | 85 |
| 24 | Najib Razak interviewed about BERSIH 2.0 (CNN) | 36,537 | 41 | 580 |
| 25 | Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak – Interview with Australia Network’s N | 11,269 | 27 | 124 |
| 26 | Terbaru! Video Zulkifli [PERKASA] Hina Kaum India Pada 06-03-2013 | 35,669 | 50 | 65 |
Table 2: Top Ten Most Popular Political Parties and Political Leaders Clips
| No | Video | Views |
| 1 | Ubah Rocket Style | 347,112 |
| 2 | Najib dimalukan penonton Psy di Pulau Pinang? | 264,061 |
| 3 | UBAH Rocket Style (Malaysian Gangnam Parody) English Version | 227,141 |
| 4 | Najib: Are You Ready For BN? People: Nooo! – CNY @ Penang , PSY- Gangnam | 185,635 |
| 5 | Bajet 2013 Khas: Tanya Najib [Secara Langsung] | 129,336 |
| 6 | Guan Eng di mata mereka…. “Kari Kepala Ikan & Seluar Pendek” | 125,826 |
| 7 | 1马工作团队 – Love Is In The Air | 79,301 |
| 8 | Inside Story – Is it time for change in Malaysia? | 72,895 |
| 9 | Malaysian opposition leader speaks to Al Jazeera | 45,093 |
| 10 | Najib Razak interviewed about BERSIH 2.0 (CNN) | 36,537 |
Table 3: Top Ten Clips According to Likes and Dislikes
| No | Video | Likes | Dislikes |
| 1. | Ubah Rocket Style | 2884 | 357 |
| 2. | UBAH Rocket Style (Malaysian Gangnam Parody) English Version | 2374 | 154 |
| 3 | Guan Eng di mata mereka…. “Kari Kepala Ikan & Seluar Pendek” | 1,678 | 77 |
| 4 | Najib: Are You Ready For BN? People: Nooo! – CNY @ Penang , PSY- Gangnam | 933 | 78 |
| 5 | Bajet 2013 Khas: Tanya Najib [Secara Langsung] | 637 | 15,153 |
| 6 | Najib dimalukan penonton Psy di Pulau Pinang? | 592 | 86 |
| 7 | Malaysian opposition leader speaks to Al Jazeera | 492 | 85 |
| 8 | Inside Story – Is it time for change in Malaysia? | 402 | 63 |
| 9 | Mat Taib sah sertai PAS | 340 | 11 |
| 10 | Video Kempen Wanita PRU13: Tangan Mu | 307 | 10 |
Table 1 displays a small pool sample of videos relating to the election and also videos regarding political leaders of KEADILAN and BN. It can be seen that the videos featuring Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will either gain a high volume of views (clip regarding Najib humiliated by Psy audiences in Pulau Pinang) with high volume of ‘dislikes’ or a video clip with low volume of viewers (video GE13: Must vote for Barisan Nasional this GE) and high volume of ‘dislikes’ (video of 2013 Budget: Ask Najib [Live]).
Meanwhile, it can be seen that the video clips featuring Pakatan Rakyat (PAKATAN) leader, particularly KEADILAN de facto leader Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the videos will receive a high volume of viewers and also a high volume of ‘likes’ (the clip Malaysian opposition leader speaks to Al Jazeera).
Najib’s Google Hangout saw as much as 129,336 views as well as much as 15,153 ‘dislikes’. Meanwhile, the video clip featuring Vice Presiden of Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) and Secretary General of Democractic Action Party (DAP) Lim Guan Eng garnered as much as 125,826 views with 1,687 ‘likes’ and ‘77’ dislikes. The two video clips featuring Anwar Ibrahim’s Google Hangout that was uploaded by Anwar Ibrahim himself saw as much as 53,603 views, 307 ‘likes’ and 82 ‘dislikes’.
As for Table 2 and 3, the two tables displays the two top ten separate list based on views and ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ clicks. The pattern emerging from the two lists is that the video featuring Najib produced a lot of negative feedback from Youtube users as opposed to the positive feedbacks gained from the videos featuring Lim Guan Eng and Anwar Ibrahim.
Considering the fact that this is just a small pool of samples and does not include the plethora of political and election video clips on Youtube, the lists are opened for debate.
However, the pattern emerging from the lists cannot be ignored. Youtube has over 1 billion viewers each month. As for Malaysia, 80 percent of internet users watch videos on Youtube and there are more than 51 percent of active Youtube users. One of the most popular video clips relating to politics from Januari to April 2013 is the video clip of Bawani’s Listen that was uploaded by the user, Penguincute33 saw as much as 1,290,835 views, 4,002 ‘likes’ and 1,053 ‘dislikes’. It also generated as much as 8,594 comments from Youtube users.
As for the the individual pages on Youtube, the most popular Malaysian Youtube page belongs to the controversial internet celebrity, Namawee. His page remains as the most watched page of 41,106,780 viewers from 133 video clips. This is the clear power possessed by Youtube in dissemination of ideas and news in Malaysia.
As a whole, BN has failed to garner the support from Youtube users as well as the internet users in Malaysia. Most importantly, the uploaded video of BN’s manifesto launch garnered only 3,050 views, as oppsed to the KEADILAN’s video on the Women’s Campaign in Your Hands garnered as much as 27,705 views. This is a clear show of disinterest by the Youtube users towards BN’s manifesto. Instead, the small video clip on the women’s campaign by KEADILAN that was uploaded by the user, Media Rakyat had scored major support from Youtube users.
KPRU believes that Malaysian technocrats have chosen Youtube as a main source of information on the poltical and election landscape as opposed to the mainstream media. The warm response towards video clips featuring the opposition parties seem to be more positive as opposed to the video clips featuring BN. KEADILAN may have a lot to lose in this coming GE13, but by analyzing the amount of views on Youtube, KEADILAN has the virtual world in their hands. In other words the technocrats have showed their support towards KEADILAN and not BN. The final conclusion of the GE13 has the potential to rule in the favour of PAKATAN and disappoint BN.
KAJIAN POLITIK UNTUK PERUBAHAN 