It may have come several years late, but Penang BN has managed to catch up with thousands of fans who are part of the Facebook and Twitter generation.

NONE Teng Chang Yeow ( left ) had revealed that the state BN’s social media networking site on Facebook has more than two million friends of fans, and that this has helped spread the coalition's messages.

"We started the page about a year ago after I took over as (state) BN head. Over the last 12 months, we’ve noticed that the number of ‘likes’ and number of people reading the page has been on the rise," he said at a tea party dubbed 'I Love Penang' yesterday.

"We found last December that we had about 2.2 million fans. Most are from Penang, but others are from all over the country and pockets are from countries like Australia and Singapore," he said.

He was speaking to reporters after an informal get-together with about 200 Penang BN Facebook fans, mainly comprising party members and supporters.

Only those with active Facebook , Twitter or blog accounts were invited to the party, which saw several BN leaders in attendance.

They included state Wanita chief Tan Cheng Liang, People's Progressive Party state chief M Logabalan, Seberang Jaya Umno assemblyperson Mohd Arif Mohd Shah, and state Gerakan Youth chief Oh Tong Keong.

  

"Due to the increasing number, we decided in January to engage our fans face-to-face. It is a very informal session to socialise, to allow us to talk, and for them to get to know the BN leaders," he said.

When it was pointed out that those at the session were mainly BN members, he laughed it off, saying "Of course... If I am surrounded by DAP supporters, I would be in trouble, I cannot eat and drink.”

"We didn't expect a certain figure, we did not mobilise that way and there are no busloads of people.”

Asked what was expected of the participants, Teng said the idea was to strengthen ties with them and to explain the information on the Facebook page.

Reaching out to young voters

On whether it is too late to reach out to the younger generation - since Pakatan Rakyat has been utilising social networking sites well before 2008 - Teng insisted that "it is never too late".

NONE "I am satisfied to be able to reach out to the younger generation ... We cannot write off young voters, we must engage with them," he said.

As to whether he knows what young voters want, Teng said he is still learning about their issues.

"If I know everything they want, I can already be a hero. I am still learning about what they want. There is definitely a gap between me and the younger generation," conceded Teng, who is 48.

"I cannot claim to understand them or all that they want, but I can certainly be part of them.”

As at last night, the page had recorded 10,317 ‘likes’, 2,929,402 ‘friends of fans’ and a weekly total reach of 261,186 for the period of Feb 8-14.

“There was a rise in 'people reached' for that week as there was much interest in BN’s Chinese New Year open house in Penang, due to Korean pop star Psy’s performance and the attendance of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak on Feb 11,” said administrator Edmund Ng, when contacted.