Is Local Language the Bridge Across Political Divides? An Evaluation of Local Language Use in a Voter-Information Campaign in the Philippines Using Facebook Split Tests

Abstract

With the current divisive political climate across democracies, and populist leaders leveraging disparities and inequality across geographic and language communities, it is important to find ways to bridge these divides, particularly for voter information campaigns that seek to strengthen the democratic process. One possible method is through employing a basic communications strategy that utilizes local languages in social media targeted at specific linguistic groups. This study turns to a field experiment to assess whether using the four most prevalent languages in the Philippines (Bisaya, Ilonggo-Hiligaynon, Ilokano, and Waray-Samarnon) can increase engagement in online materials. Through two campaigns implemented on Facebook, the study found evidence that local language materials are more likely to catch attention: as an example, users were 54% more likely to click on – and 28% more likely to engage with – local language materials in the “Iba Naman” (We Want Alternative Leaders) campaign. Focus group discussions and interviews revealed that these are easier to comprehend, give users a sense of pride and community, and are novelties compared to English and Tagalog. These findings and the evaluation methodology opens opportunities for evidence-guided social media campaign strategies for government and civil society particularly in policy issues that are contentious and divisive.

Keywords: Split Test, Social Media, Voter Information, Language