In our December 2012 Census of Facebook Users in Malaysia, we included a comparison of likes for Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and Barisan Nasional (BN) for users aged above 21 years old. This did not explicitly include any politicians’ Pages.
We found that:
- PR has more likes than BN in every age group.
- PR has more male and female likes than BN in every age group. However the gap is narrow for female likes, which means BN can overtake PR in likes from potential women voters.
- BN likes have grown at a faster rate than PR in November, narrowing the gap between both coalitions.
- In November- BN’s highest growth was in men aged 21-30 years, while PR’s highest growth was in women aged 21-30 years
On January 1st 2013, we ran another census for PR and BN. We found that:
- PR has more likes than BN in every age group.
- PR has more male and female likes than BN in every age group.
- BN likes grew at a faster rate in December compared to November, for both men and women.
- BN gained more likes than PR in every age category for both men and women.
- PR likes grew at a faster rate in December compared to November, but only for men. For women, PR’s growth rate reduced from 14.98% to 3.29%.
- For women aged 21-30 years, PR growth was 14560 likes in November. In December, PR growth was only 1520 likes. This reduced growth rate applies to all age categories of women.
- In December – BN’s highest growth was in men aged 21-30 years, while PR’s highest growth was in men aged 21-30 years
- The gap for female likes has reduced further, with BN only 2160 likes away from overtaking PR for women aged 21-30 years.
- PR’s fan-base has become more male-dominant, with the male/female ratio shifting from 209:100 to 217:100.
- BN’s fan-base has become less male-dominant, with the male/female ratio shifting from 154:100 to 152:100.
Questions to think about:
- What did PR do in November to gain such a high increase in likes from women?
- What did PR do in December to increase its growth rate in likes from men, but greatly reduce its growth rate in likes from women?
- What did BN do in December to increase its growth rate in likes from both men and women?
Statistics
Barisan Nasional
Total likes: 428,540
Male/female ratio: 152:100
Pakatan Rakyat
Total likes: 606,820
Male/female ratio: 217:100
Graphs
Methodology
Facebook’s advertising tools were used to collect data on the number of likes for each topic. The results are an estimate by Facebook based on the search criteria we used. We found the margin of error to be +/- 0.1%, though this can vary based on the topic.