Social Media: A Catalyst for Change in Pakistan?

Abstract

The role and power of social media is growing in Pakistan, where there are now over 76 million mobile phone users in the country on the internet. There are more than 40 million social media users, and this number is growing daily with Facebook as the most widely used social media platform. This study provides preliminary findings on how social media is used by citizens and social groups, political parties and candidates, and the Prime Minister and his opponents, comparing three case studies using data from Facebook obtained via CrowdTangle in 2020. In the first case study, search term Arzoo, social media became voice of the suppressed, poor and marginalized in society when the underage marriage and forced conversion of Arzoo Raja, a 13- year Christian girl, brought citizens together and particularly Christian minority, to call for justice, with the sum of posts shared at 117,500 over a one-month period. The second case culminated over the same time period, searching on Gilgit-Baltistan, on the 2020 Assembly election in which parties and candidates used social media to reach and attract voters starting campaigning in June and the election was postponed to November, with the sum of posts shared at 1,216,837. The third case searching on Prime Minister Imran Khan, brought up posts by him, his allies and opponents, and the sample is one week in November 2020 before the Gilgit-Baltistan vote, with the sum of posts shared at 413,037. Shares represent the size of social network. The volume of posts and the drivers of public engagement online in the case of Arzoo, are compared with examples from political elites, to discuss whether social media may become a catalyst for change in Pakistan.