Koshan Ali Khidhir*
The Kurdistan Region of Iraq is making progress in various areas;
media and technology have wide popularity, especially during elections
or problematic periods. This report considers how Facebook and other
social media networks have changed the relations between Kurdish
citizens and their leaders. To what extent has Facebook become a
campaigning channel for politicians? How far have these networks become a
source of information for journalists?
According to chekfacebook, 1,174,300
Iraqis have Facebook accounts (out of a global total of 800 million
users). 73.3 % of Iraqi Facebook users are male and 26.7%, or 312,180,
are female. This means that Facebook has not become the main media in
the region, but it has great popularity among the young: 40.4% of users
are aged 18-24 and 31.6% are aged 25-34.
There are different opinions about the use of Facebook and other
social media networks. IT student Andam Omer thinks that most Facebook
subscribers lack sufficient knowledge about the platform. They are just
using it for entertainment, says Andam, even though many of them are
concerned about other matters such as politics and governmental issues.
There are still few Kurdish politicians using Facebook. Bilal Saed,
journalist, has written a report on the impact of Facebook on Kurdish
politics. According to his research, only 22 out of 111 members of the
Kurdistan Parliament use Facebook.
Nechirvan Barzani, deputy head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, was
the first prominent Kurdish politician to use Facebook, followed by
Massoud Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Region, Salahaddin Bahaadin,
Secretary-General of the Kurdistan Islamic Union, and Masrour Barzani,
head of the Parastin intelligence agency – according to Bilal Saed’s
report. He said he could find exclusive pictures and videos on the
politicians’ Facebook accounts that he couldn’t get anywhere else.
However, journalist Mohammed Eli Zalla believes that social media in
the Kurdistan Region has not yet become sufficiently popular and so
politicians don’t see it as an essential way to spread their messages.
Facebook has not become a way for politicians to interact with the whole
of society because it is still restricted to elites or well-educated
people. Facebook interaction does not and will not replace more personal
interaction, Mohammed adds.
Shwan Medihat, another journalist, uses Facebook as one of his
sources for news. Facebook news pages will encourage journalists to
research for more information, he says.
Bahra Sediq is one of the female Kurdish journalists using Facebook.
She has an optimistic view about relations between politicians and
journalists via Facebook and other social media networks. It is easier
and practical to contact politicians by Facebook, she says.
Akam Asos, a journalist, has the same perspective. It was always
difficult to contact and meet with politicians, even parliamentarians,
but Facebook has made this more possible.
In addition, Shwan Mohammed states that Facebook can enable
politicians to publish their perspectives, ideas, videos and pictures
more easily: it is progress from traditional interaction to the modern
one. Facebook and social media could help change the public’s perception
of politicians who should therefore open accounts to broaden their
impact on society.
Shwan says that there are some high-ranking politicians who avoid
talking to the media – so why would they want to use Facebook? He also
mentioned that politicians’ Facebook pages are administrated by others
and not themselves.
Andam has a slightly different view, saying there are few politicians
on Facebook and so it has not yet become a mainstream way for
interaction between politicians and citizens. However, there are some
politicians who use Facebook to show their sympathy towards citizens and
criticize corruption, he says.
Journalists are encouraging politicians to use Facebook more. Bahra
suggests that politicians should be more concerned about using these new
technologies and spending more time on Facebook to have more contact
and popularity with journalists and society.
*Koshan A. Khidhir is a journalist, blogger, and undergraduate
student in Political Science and International Relations at University
of Kurdistan-Hawler (UKH): Koshanali.blogspot.com
This article has been published on Kurdistan Tribune:
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