In a surprising turn of event, the ruling New Patriotic Party has outpaced the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in garnering lesser negative sentiments online from the latest IMANI Centre for Policy and Education Social Media Pulse report (IMANI PULSE).
This marks a notable shift in social media sentiment, as it makes it the first instance since the start of the publication of the report that the New Patriotic Party has received lesser negative sentiment on social media against the opposition National Democratic Congress.
According to the report’s findings, the New Patriotic Party assumed a lead in positive sentiment on social media platforms, with a marginal increase from 10.22% to 10.71% while conversely, the National Democratic Congress witnessed a decline in positive sentiment, dropping from 10.22% to 9.50%.
“For the first time since the inception of IMANI PULSE, the NPP has an edge over the NDC in lesser negative sentiments on social media. NPP has taken a lead in positive sentiment on the social media posts monitored”.
IMANI PULSE Report
The report further indicated that both the two political parties experienced a substantial reduction in negative sentiment among social media users.
Notably, negative sentiment towards the ruling New Patriotic Party decreased drastically by almost 13% (12.89%), plummeting from around 30.7% to about 17.81% while in similar instance the National Democratic Congress observed a decrease in negative sentiment, albeit to a lesser extent, declining from 21.86% to 18.64%.
Factors Contributing to the Shift
Furthermore, the report highlighted the possibility of proactive measures by social media teams to project positive narratives involving the two main political parties, thereby mitigating negative sentiments towards them on social media.
This strategic approach according to the report appears to have yielded favourable outcomes, particularly for the ruling New Patriotic Party.
The report also noted that several noteworthy events and engagements contributed in influencing social media discourse, thereby accounting for the observed shift in social media sentiment towards the two main political parties in the country.
The report specifically mentioned that the launch of the One Student One Tablet Smart Schools initiative symbolizing a fulfillment of the New Patriotic Party’s promise of providing one tablet per student generated significant buzz on platforms like TikTok, accompanied by hashtags such as #itispossible, #Boldsolutionsforthefuture, and #Bawumia2024 towards the ruling party.
Similarly, the report noted that Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s engagement with traders in the Sunyani, Bono Region, alongside popular hashtags #Bawumia2024 and #itispossible, sparked substantial discussion and mentions on social media for the ruling party.
Moreover, the report indicated that former President John Dramani Mahama, the flagbearer for the opposition National Democratic Congress received massive engagement to the tune of around 243,000 reactions on social media in March due to several activities such as walks that were organized by the party.
Additionally, the report noted that a controversial event regarding a pronouncement made by Dr. Kwesi Ahwoi, one of the main elders of the opposition party, caused a spike in the mentions of the party’s flagbearer in March.
“People are also being more responsive to party related events and several issues will be coming up in future sentiment analyses, where sentiments towards specific issues will be analyzed to see if they have bearings on overall sentiment. These will make for more interesting reading of the space”.
IMANI PULSE Report
Interestingly however, the report stated that the National Democratic Congress’s social media reach also improved with even fewer direct mentions, while the advertising revenue equivalent also shows that a lot of content was being generated and engaged with among NDC-related issues.
Rise of Independent Contender
Touching on the popularity of independent candidates on social media, the IMANI Centre for Policy and Education Social Media Pulse report revealed that Nana Kwame Bediako, the leader of the New Force emerged as a dominant figure in social media discussions.
The report showed that the New Force leader’s recent listening tour and media interviews have bolstered his visibility, with his hashtag #thenewforce garnering significant positive sentiment and engagement.
According to the report, the depth of Mr Bediako’s reach from a small sample of handles suggests a well-coordinated and organic social media engagement.
The report concluded by stating that unlike the leader for the New Force, the other contenders including Alan Kyerematen, leader of Movement for Change, People’s National Convention (PNC), Convention People’s Party (CPP), Hassan Ayariga’s All People’s Congress and Progressive People’s Party (PPP) still do not have enough sentiments on social media.
In summary, the latest IMANI PULSE report unveils a notable shift in social media sentiment, with the governing New Patriotic Party gaining traction and the opposition National Democratic Congress maintaining relevance amidst evolving digital dynamics.
The period under observation for the latest edition of the report is from the 26th of February to the 26th of March 2024.
