With only a week until the local government elections, data shows South Africans are increasingly using social media platforms to discuss topics such as housing, service delivery and unemployment.
Meltwater research on South Africans' social media conversations shows over 50% more conversations are taking place on social platforms in the lead up to this election than editorially.
The global tech and media intelligence firm conducted its research by tracking election exposure around the majority political parties, as well as mentions about the elections during July.
The social sites tracked included Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, message boards, blogs, forums and review sites, while editorial coverage measured 270 000 local and international online news sites.
According to Matthew Barclay, MD of Meltwater in Johannesburg, in the run-up to any major event, social media can be a great barometer for gauging people's attitudes, and to some extent, even forecasting patterns in their decision-making.
"It's interesting to see the difference in what is being said on social media versus traditional online news sites, as it provides us with a glimpse into how voters are consuming their news.
"From this report, we were able to identify various nuances in conversations around the elections on the different platforms; for example, discussions on social media often referred to housing and unemployment, while editorially there was more focus on party leaders as individuals rather than the parties themselves," notes Barclay.
Conversation starters
The report shows the African National Congress (ANC) led social media conversations this month with 11 243 mentions.
Social media mentions of the Democratic Alliance (DA) reached 6 274 and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) received 2 674 mentions.
The report notes, of the total ANC, DA and EFF mentions that were themed around the South African Broadcasting Corporation, 50% made direct reference to COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng - positioning him as the key driver of the conversation.
The Meltwater report also shows trending topics relating to the local elections on social media included Nelson Mandela Bay, media freedom and unemployment.
"At this point, the percentage of neutral sentiment on social media is very closely aligned across the three majority parties, making these elections very interesting to monitor," says Barclay.
App appeal
While political party leaders have used the past few months on the campaign trail to make promises in an effort to secure votes, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) made improvements to its app.
Initially launched in 2014, the IEC app aims to inform and educate South African citizens and provide information on results. The app is available for Android and Apple smart devices, with a Windows rollout expected to go live anytime.
In the last two months, the IEC's app has been updated twice. The first update included voting station information, how to apply for special votes and electoral information. The second update, which was completed last week, focuses on the rendering of results as and when they become available.
IEC CIO Libisi Maphanga says following market analysis of what users prefer, the IEC decided to make improvements, also changing the look and feel of the app.
The update changed the way results are presented, he states.
According to Maphanga, in terms of app usage, the IEC has received over two million enquiries. More than 300 000 applications and enquiries about special votes were conducted via the IEC's app, he says.
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