Twitter as a Tool for Malaysian Leaders in Building Credibility and Trust Among Young Voters

Credibility among leaders has always become an interesting topic to be debated in the millennium era. The influx of information derived from the advancement of technology has changed the public perspective and hence makes it complicated. The rise of Social Network Sites (SNS) specifically Twitter as a new medium of communication makes it even worse because it is an influential tool in disseminating information as well as to exchange opinions and views within the society. Twitter has become one of the most frequent applications used under SNS category especially among young voters. In response, politicians also have ventured into this new communication landscape in order to interact and get closer to the voters. This phenomenon plays an important role in changing the public perception towards the credibility of political leaders in the world. This research aims to study the roles of Twitter as a tool used by Malaysian leaders in building both credibility and trust through the virtual engagement made with young voters. This research is based on the findings obtained from the in-depth interviews done with participants that have been selected from purposive sampling. The research’s findings were being analysed using the ATLAS.ti software in order to explore the young voters’ reactions towards the virtual engagement approach, the perception and the voting behaviour which are being illustrated into network graphics. The Social Judgement Theory (SJT) together with the communication framework has been used in order to study the possibility of attitude change during the virtual engagement process. The research also shows that a leader must comply with certain criteria such as having a good personality, bring positivity to the society, media literate and fully utilising the media platforms in order to be seen as a credible leader and gain the trust of the young voters.