Whether it be attractive or not, mayoral and councillor aspirants have created storms on digital platforms with various types of contents to woo voters ahead of both Dhaka city polls, rescheduled for February 1.
Some may get annoyed by the content sponsored by the candidates for Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) elections, but it is much more comfortable for most of the Dhaka dwellers to be rid of noise and traffic congestion caused by the mayoral and councillor candidates during their campaigns.
With digital contents, live streaming, pictures, infographics posted on Facebook, uploaded on YouTube, and other digital platforms, candidates tried to reach to thousands of their targeted voters -- depending on age and areas -- in the city.
It is found that two Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) mayoral candidates were much more active on social media compared to those of the Awami League.
The social media contents include songs based on folk, hip-hop, baul, and even hamd and naat.
However, much of the content does not seem to be made in creative ways, rather some of those are very controversial.
The Dhaka Tribune tried to analyze Facebook contents (particularly posted on January 29) of the four top mayoral candidates of the two city corporations.
DNCC leads in contents online
Both the Awami League and BNP-backed DNCC mayoral candidates were very active on social media, especially on Facebook.
BNP-supported mayoral runner Tabith Awal probably dominated Facebook through his number of contents.
Tabith led in terms of going live repeatedly on the social media during his campaigns, while Awami League-backed mayoral aspirant Atiqul Islam drew attention after uploading a video of making tea in a tea stall on the footpath, and singing songs at his office after finishing a day's campaign.
Tabith in his verified Facebook page, liked by over 700,000 users, uploaded pictures and other contents related to the campaign.
Nine video contents were uploaded on his Facebook page on January 29 alone. Of those, one was the theme song, seven were live contents, and a digital content teaching people about the way of voting in EVM (electronic voting machine).
He also uploaded his election manifesto on January 27, which was reacted by over 4,000 users and viewed 4,100 times.
On the other hand, Atiqul Islam from his unverified Facebook account, liked by about 700,000 users, broadcast campaigns on Facebook live. Besides, he went live through few other fan pages, and personal accounts.
His manifesto, basically a motion graphic content, was reacted more than the one of Tabith. It was viewed 466,000 times and reacted to by 18,000 users.
He also arranged live answering session for the audiences on Facebook. Pictures of hugging people, shaking hands with them, and giving them hand bills were also posted there.
Analyzing the posts from January 29 - it is found that Atiqul went live six times, and uploaded three digital contents. Of those, one was reacted to by 4,800 users, and viewed 36,000 times.
In comparison DSCC candidates remain behind
BNP-supported DSCC mayoral candidate Ishraque Hossain's live casts got much more views than any other mayoral candidates in the city.
On January 29, from his verified Facebook page liked by 579,000 users, nine live and a digital content using a pirated song of James' "Amar Sonar Bangla" were posted. Of those, one live content got 105,000 reactions, and was viewed 693,000 times. He also posted a few texts seeking votes.
On the other hand, the Awami League-backed mayoral aspirant Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh is comparatively lagging behind the others in terms of net presence.
He has few posts on his verified Facebook page, liked by 234,000 users, and most of the videos were of press conferences broadcast previously on different television channels.
On January 29, only two videos of press conferences were uploaded. No video of polls campaigning was seen there.
Taposh focused more on the heritage of old Dhaka with emotional and touchy contents, and his desire to revive it.
Atiqul ahead in controversy and comedy
Atiqul Islam drew more controversy on the social media by posting a video during the election campaign. A video went viral in which Atiqul was seen making tea on a footpath tea stall and distributing to his followers in Aftab Nagar area.
Many criticized the matter, and at the same time some talked on his behalf.
Criticizing the matter, Shariful Hasan wrote on his Facebook wall: "Honorable mayor, making tea is not your job. Why do you make such drama? If possible, solve the problem of the city and citizens. Don't make drama. You are not Mosharraf Karim."
Another video of the candidate singing in a room on January 24, after a day's campaign was discussed a lot.
In six days, it earned 1.6 million views, and was shared 25,000 times.
Least importance of website
Though all the four mayoral candidates have websites, they have very few contents.
Of them, the website of Taposh is more organized and contains more videos, while others have no videos, or just a few.
Ensuring equal opportunity
When there were a lot of reports of attacks and counter attacks on election campaigns, and objections against Election Commission over ensuring level-playing field, only the social media were found ensuring it properly, at least during campaigns.
Also, the social media was helpful for capturing the large youth population online.
Both the Awami League and BNP candidates of DNCC mentioned the huge reach of social media and environmental benefits of online campaigning as major advantages.
On the internet, all candidates can sponsor posts keeping specific groups of voters in mind, without having any worry about their physical security or exhaustion. This medium also allows the audience to access a large pool of information about the candidates with just a few clicks. As the polls draw nearer, the number of sponsored posts from all candidates have also increased.
Moreover, it gives the candidates more flexibility in terms of time and audience targeting.
Who came out first on digital media?
It's not a mayoral candidate that came out first in terms of reaching the highest number of people and being talked about the most on social media and real life.
Aleya Sarwar Daisy, a councillor candidate for DNCC's Ward 31, produced a hip-hop track that outlines her plans for the area that has been all over the social media.
Her video song "Daisy Apar Salam Nin, Latim Markay Vote Din" earned over 800,000 views, 6,400 shares only from her unverified Facebook page within two weeks. Besides, it has been shared and reuploaded from countless Facebook pages and accounts, and on YouTube as well.
Moreover, another video of a man dancing accompanied by few others with the rhythm of the song, first drew the attention of the people and brought the councillor candidate at the centre of conversations.
Pirated songs used by candidates
Except for Aleya Sarwar Daisy, the other councillor and mayoral candidates' campaign and theme song tunes are pirated from popular or famous songs and had been dominating the social media, which created controversy and rather annoyed the citizens for degrading the original hits.