As Colombians are set to cast their votes in the presidential runoff on Sunday, an analyst has noted that social media is playing a growing role in shaping voter sentiment.
The vote is between two candidates with sharply contrasting visions on how to solve the country's most pressing issues.
In the first round of election, right-wing political outsider Abelardo de la Espriella narrowly came first with about 43 percent of the vote. His opponent Ivan Cepeda, a leftist who represents the current ruling party, took around 41 percent.
During the campaign, De la Espriella promised to tackle violence -- one of Colombia's biggest issues.
His rival, 63-year-old three-term senator Ivan Cepeda, who represents President Gustavo Petro's Pacto Historico coalition, has campaigned on continuing social justice policies and strengthening economic reforms introduced by the president -- most notably a significant increase in the national minimum wage.
But beyond the policy platforms, Eduardo Briceno Florez, an expert in history and politics, says the real battle is being fought on social media, where short-form videos are replacing televised debates as the primary tool for swaying voters.
"Candidates understood that the contrast of their opinions in a televised debate was not that important, but the contrast that they wanted to create and to position is via very short videos in social network platforms, more enhancing a feeling and a sentiment, a partitioner's sentiment, rather than a programmatic proposal itself," said Eduardo Briceno Florez.
Analyst highlights growing role of social media in Colombia's presidential election
Analyst highlights growing role of social media in Colombia's presidential election
