Twenty-five per cent of the electorate captured onto the voter roll by the Electoral Commission in its just-ended registration exercise is made up of under-34-year-olds who are “digital citizens” but none of the political parties has any “coherent” social media and digital game plan that strategically targets them, Dalex Finance Chief Operating Officer Joe Jackson has observed.

The EC, on Wednesday, 12 August 2020, said it registered a total of 16.9 million voters ahead of the 7 December 2020 polls.

With the COVID-19 pandemic making it impossible for mass gatherings and outdoor political activities characteristic of every election year coupled with a quarter of the voting population being digital and social media savvy, Mr Jackson told Benjamin Akakpo on Class91.3FM’s Executive Breakfast Show on Thursday, 13 August 2020 that he cannot fathom why politicians are not leveraging social media and the digital sphere to sell their messages to that group.

“There are two parameters at play: one is that 25 per cent of the current electorate is below 34 years. Now, that is significant. That’s a quarter of the people.

“This 34-year-and-below [group] also happens to be millennials; they are digital citizens”, he pointed out.

“I’m an older person. I’m a digital immigrant and even though I consider myself a well-integrated immigrant, I’m still an immigrant. [To] the people we’re talking about, the digital [sphere] is the life”, Mr Jackson noted.

He said: “They think about sending a text message before they think about making a voice call. So, if you have 25 per cent of your electorate, your addressable market and they are digital, then even before we start talking about the effects of COVID-19, if you fail the digital game, you’ve lost out massively”.

“Now, when you add COVID-19 and its effects and the fact that you can’t even attempt traditional campaigning, then really, you’re saying that this is going to be the most digitally-affected campaign ever we’ve had in this country.

“And, so, when I look at both sides of the divide, I’m saying nobody is doing enough. Nobody seems to have a coherent strategy to address this 25 per cent of the population I’m talking about”, Mr Jackson asserted.

According to him, the “single-biggest reason anybody has a smartphone in this country is because of WhatsApp”.

“So, what’s your WhatsApp game, what’s your Facebook game, what’s your Instagram game, what’s your Twitter game?” he asked the politicians.

“I don’t see anything coherent happening”, Mr Jackson observed, adding: “I just see people posting little videos without attempting to engage, without having a coherent digital message”.

“I’m sorry but I’m thoroughly disappointed with all the stakeholders, and I’m not talking just about the parties and the major campaign teams; I’m talking about the parliamentary candidates in the urban areas. What are they doing?” he wondered.

“In the old days, you’ll be going from funeral to funeral; you can’t do that now. In the old days, you’ll be knocking on door to door; now, not only can you not do that, you shouldn’t do it.

“So, obviously, there is a huge gap. It’s almost as if politicians are being too slow to react to the current circumstances and the fact that COVID-19 is here to stay”, Mr Jackson added.