Former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. apparently favors social media over traditional media to communicate with the people and propel his presidential bid in the May elections.
According to political analyst Julio Teehankee, the Marcos camp sought to control the narrative via social media after the presidential aspirant skipped some presidential interviews by the mainstream media.
“The Marcos camp wants to control their narrative by relying strictly on social media where BBM can play pa-cute with the vloggers and influencers and spin myths about the golden era and Tallano gold,” he said over “The Chiefs” program last Friday.
Teehankee, a political science professor at the De La Salle University, warned that a candidate’s reliance on social media could also “backfire.”
“Those who live by social media can perish by social media because these same interviews can now be seen all over the world 24/7 and if you’re not present in this serious conversation, then hanggang dun ka na lang sa pa-cute ‘di ba,” he said.
Marcos declined an invitation from KBP to participate in the presidential forum last Friday due a conflict in schedule. He already granted the interview request made by veteran broadcaster Korina Sanchez Roxas that day.
Last month, Marcos snubbed the presidential interview with GMA-7’s Jessica Soho last month. His absence was in protest of Soho’s alleged bias against his family.
The presidential aspirant however still granted some interviews from other media entities. He was last seen attending DZBB’s “Ikaw na ba?” presidential interview on Saturday.
He previously made guest appearances on actress/vlogger Toni Gonzaga’s YouTube program as well as Boy Abunda’s tv show.
The former senator also keeps an active social media presence, from his regular “BBM Vlog” to frequent social media posts on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Parang si Erap lang: ‘Nowhere man’ Marcos Jr follows ‘less talk, less mistake’ campaign strategy – analyst
Teehankee said Marcos, the frontrunner among presidential bets based on recent surveys, has clearly adopted the “less talk, less mistake” strategy. It is the same approach applied by former President Joseph Estrada who attended only two debates but still won the presidential elections in 1998.
“These interviews can reinforce or discredit a candidate’s narratives,” he said.
