KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 — Malaysian politicians keen to be chosen as candidates for the 15th general election have stepped up their social media presence but should be mindful of how they do it, according to a report in The Star today.

The daily cited two political observers weighing in on the increased activity online since Parliament’s dissolution in a bid to attract and engage with an enlarged voter pool.

Political analyst Datuk Jeniri Amir told the newspaper that social media will continue to play a big role in the upcoming elections since there would be many young and new voters under Undi18 and automatic voter registration.

"Social media influence was there during GE14 in 2018 and this time around, it would be bigger with Undi18.

"The number of voters aged between 18 and 21 is quite high at around seven million, so social media can be an effective political marketing and communication tool,” Jeniri, a National Professors Council senior fellow, was quoted as saying.

He added that the use of cyberspace was said to be among the reasons Barisan Nasional lost to Pakatan Harapan in the last election.

Prof Muhammad Fuad Othman from Universiti Utara Malaysia told The Star that social media were also gaining popularity among the older generation.

"Those who can grasp the idea of social media as a component in their campaign would have the upper hand because we have a large number of new voters.

"This includes not only those who are 18 but also those who are older but have never voted before.

"Political parties must try to attract these groups of voters,” he was quoted as saying.

In August, then deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsuddin said that out of 21.1 million registered voters, 5.4 per cent (1,141,749) were aged 18 to 20.

She added that Undi18 and automatic voter registration saw a significant increase of 5.8 million new voters in the GE15.