Prior to the advent of social media, general election campaigns in Jamaica were primarily run on three major platforms, on the ground, on air (radio and television), and in the print media.

But from all indications, political parties may well have to rely more heavily on the digital platform to get their messages across to the Jamaican populace. Indeed, this writer would want to strongly suggest to the country’s two main pollsters, Don Anderson’s Market Research and Blue Dot, to go into the field and garner for us data that can indicate the extent to which social media can influence how Jamaicans vote in the upcoming general election.

Information gleaned by this writer indicates that Jamaica has seen a significant increase in social media users, with 1.61 million active users in January 2024. In the meantime, social media penetration is high, with 56.9 per cent of the population using social media and 66.8 per cent of Jamaica’s total Internet user base having used at least one social media platform in 2024. A breakdown up to that year shows Instagram leading with 1.1 million users, while FaceBook remained a popular platform with 920,600 users. In the meantime, TikTok was gaining popularity, particularly among younger audiences. Other platforms with increasing usage include YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter (X), and Reddit. However, it is safe to say that in 2025 there has been a dramatic increase in the number of social media users, especially of FaceBook, TikTok, and YouTube.

With little over 90 per cent of Jamaicans having access to cellphones (many having more than one), the print media has already been significantly challenged to find ways and means to keep up with the advances in the digital age, with many individuals relying more and more on getting information on their hand-held devices.

It is against this background that political parties are likely not to take the social media phenomenon for granted but may well have to see it as a major tool for getting their messages across to a public that is being bombarded daily with misinformation and disinformation. To put it bluntly, fake news and propaganda are likely to take centre stage and could sway voters either negatively or positively.

Almost frighteningly, social media, like an unwieldy octopus, has been straddling the extended media landscape, replete with bloggers, vloggers, content creators, trolls, so-called citizen journalists, and influencers. Alongside these are those who have been freely wielding their “pens” (which is said to be mightier than the sword), in many instances carrying out acts of character assassination, spreading mischief, propaganda, and other visual and aural depictions designed to misinform, deceive, or reinforce that which, in their views, reflect positively for their political party, colleagues, or groups.

This is not to say that there are not positive sides to the use of social media as a primary means of communication. Writer Howard Rheingold states that social media has been championed as allowing anyone with an Internet connection to become a content creator and empowering their users. “The idea of ‘new media populism’ encompasses how citizens can include disenfranchised citizens and allow the public to have an engaged and active role in political discourse. New media, including social media platforms such as FaceBook and Twitter, can enhance people’s access to political information. Social media platforms and the Internet have facilitated the dissemination of political information that counters mainstream media tactics that are often centralised and top down, including high entry barriers. Social media, especially news spread through social media sites, plays into the idea of the attention economy. Content that attracts more attention will be seen, shared, and disseminated far more than news content that does not gather as much traction from the public.” In this regard, Tim Wu from Columbia Law School coins the attention economy as “the resale of human attention”.

In this vein, he argues that, “A communication platform such as social media is persuasive and often works to change or influence opinions regarding political views because of the abundance of ideas, thoughts, and opinions circulating through the social media platform. It is found that news use leads to political persuasion; therefore, the more that people use social media platforms for news sources, the more their political opinions will be affected.”

One of the downsides to the social media surge is that it has unbridled and, for the most part, no established and adhered to checks and balances. As a result, there is a thin line between freedom of expression as guaranteed by the Jamaican Constitution and responsible messaging or content delivery. As the silly season becomes even sillier, the State and civil society will be hard-pressed to maintain some degree of balance, fairness, and probity.

Of course, in a land where hearsay and “suss” reigns supreme, not to mention bar talk (in the lower socio-economic bracket) and verandah talk (the upper echelons), the war of words on the political hustings is likely to cause much disarray and confusion. Needless to say, it has been well established that in a war the truth is usually the first casualty. On the other hand, it has also been said that war, in the very final analysis, is not about who wins or loses, but what is left. The increasingly violent, vituperative, and divisive rhetoric now taking place between sparring Labourites and Comrades, even at the leadership and representational levels, against the backdrop of an ineffective Office of the Political Ombudsman, does not augur well for what may be left of Jamaica after the votes have been counted.

The use or misuse of social media platforms will definitely play a pivotal role in helping to set a negative or positive tone. Both the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) and the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) must seek to influence their social media players not to muddy the water in an indecent haste to persuade voters to go in their direction. The truth, like oil, has a way of coming to the surface, but so does effluent.

With this in mind both the Government and the Opposition should pursue a combined effort to launch a campaign through the Jamaica Information Service and other credible agencies in the private sector and civil society to encourage and persuade users of social media to be responsible, fair, and balanced in their utterances. It is also incumbent on the traditional media to be the watchdogs and gatekeepers of our democracy, which could be easily derailed by the wanton use of social media.

Lloyd B Smith has been involved full-time in Jamaican media for the past 49 years. He has also served as a Member of Parliament and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. He hails from western Jamaica where he is popularly known as the Governor. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or lbsmith4@gmail.com.