It is no doubt that social media has changed the scenario to some extent. People have become aware. They are mindful, what is wrong and what is right. But @CALL FOR CHANGE is right here;
"Large chunk of Pakistani population lives in rural areas and the votes are given on the basis or "Baradri system".
A large number of masses who use Facebook is under 18. No doubt urban population has increased but in urban population who are above 40 or 50, do not use Facebook. So exceptions are not much that it will bring required change.

Sir , I wish I can show the face-book profiles of these semi-literate people. Then may be you would realise what type of change they will bring via face-book . elections are not so far so let's wait and watch

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Sangdil Riwajoon ki ya Imart-e-Kohna Toot bhi Tou Skti hay
Yeh Aseer Sehzadi Choot bhi tou Skti hay

@ Call for Change.

Well, FB profile are made and you and me can write anything on them. Some people are saying FB is largely used by under 18 population is not correct. Although reliable data is not available, but i see majority of FB users are over 18, and their number may run in millions. Further, the "Baradri" system is not as strong as was a decade ago. The PML(Q) which was strong in rural areas during last election was beaten badly in recent bye-elections, while PML(N) which was considered an urban based party previously is now winning in rural areas as well. Is it not a change ?

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/// Aur be ghum hain zamanay main muhabat kay siwa ///

Its not about how many people use facebook, its about how they use facebook. Are they using it for entertainment or infotainment? Are they discussing serious matters or they are just sharing the songs and pictures? What kind of pages they like and what type of communities they join?. These things are the indicators to know the mental level and capacity of the users.
Let me correct you about PML-N sir, it is not considered as urban party. It is considered as Punjab's party and large chunk of punajab's population lives in rural areas.Most of the PML-N's members are still part of "Baradri" system.

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Sangdil Riwajoon ki ya Imart-e-Kohna Toot bhi Tou Skti hay
Yeh Aseer Sehzadi Choot bhi tou Skti hay

Sorry mam, large chunk of the Punjab population now lives in Urban centers as per latest figures released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. I will try to paste link soon for your kind information as and when i find an online source to confirm my claim.

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/// Aur be ghum hain zamanay main muhabat kay siwa ///

the change will not be too dramatic or unexpected but there is no doubt PMLN and PTI will get huge benefits because of the use of Social Media. although, there won't be a shift in the whole results but one can bet they won't be very conventional.

Social media can bring change as it has given voices to common people. But it will be too early to expect this change coming in the upcoming elections. We have not attained political maturity yet. Ours is family based political system. The head of a family decides whom to give vote. Change is coming but it will take at least ten to fifteen years. However it will have some effect in current elections too.

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When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it. (Paulo Coehlo)

yes i am agree with you, yes masses are using fb just for entertainment and other foolish activities. the concept of maturity and proper usage of social media is far away from our masses. first we have to discuss that when will our masses learn to use social media for the betterment of society. and how they will learn?

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LOVE all, TRUST a few, do WRONG to none......

There will be no impact of social media.Electronic media plays a vital role in politcal arena. Pml n has full control on it. Pml n is all set to emerge as the leading party. Imran khan popularity is mere an eye wash.He is an honest person but a naive politician. Despite being popular on social media he will not be able to become a vital player in parliament.He held a huge public meeting in lahore but he will not win a single seat from lahore because its easy to use fb nd twitter bt difficult to come out of comfort zone on election day.

I think we need to look at this in the light of broad sense and aspects; as no one denies the wielding power social media possesses in modern age. If we look and compare that with the mass usage in foreign countries and that of in our country, then we'd have to conclude that we are a bit long way off from having an impact and influence via social media on general elections.

The most astonishing point that I've noticed just in this discussion is that we're still talking about Facebook. Not Twitter. Facebook are used for personal use, to get in touch with your friends and relatives, show interests TO your friends, have a discussion WITH your friends, and so on. On another hand, the official pages of political parties and people, sorry to say, doesn't offer any thing productive and mostly lead to endless and thoughtless discussions — which mostly end up in blame games among the participants of the pages —on Facebook.

Comparing that to how political elements run their Facebook pages in foreign countries, the mind is just blown away. They actually come out with policies, engage people and users in healthy discussions, post videos of any advancement, and what not.

But, as I wrote earlier, Facebook is not as powerful as you guys — with due respect — are making it out to be. The real player is Twitter — which I can confirm that you guys won't like using at first place — and that's where the 'real game' is played no matter what the domain is; politics, sports, discussions, facts & figures, live updates, ideological fights, and likewise — and you will start to see this all if you're following the right people and grasp and understand the power and usage of Twitter.

Arab Spring that started in Tunisia when a grocer set himself on fire, rapidly and literally spread like a fire in neighboring countries like Egypt, Syria, Libya, etc. And I can't emphasise enough on the role that Twitter has played in all this and is still playing on. People update about what's going on between Islamists and Liberals (Morsi & anti-Morsi supporters) and you never miss any progress on what's going on on that Egypt issue, you get updates on how cunningly Bahrain regime is trying to suffocate the 'free speech' and trampling Human Rights there via Twitter. You get updates on the conflict in Syria b/w Assad and the rebels... and what not.

All this comes from the people who are directly involved there... not from "Official" pages who will try to mask many facets of the story nor from any media outlets who have their own interests in supporting or not supporting respective regimes or political thoughts.

This you don't see on Facebook. I bet.

Elections in U.S. took Twitter with storm. We were getting live coverage via polls, videos, tweets, and links to worthy sources.

The recent Gaza conflict between Israel and Hamas didn't start via live news conference or statement but they announced it on Twitter. After IDF killed Jabari in a strike, they posted the video on Youtube and announced on Twitter that they have killed him and made a statement on Twitter that they will continue the attacks and that's how it started. Even Hamas wasn't behind on that. They literally posted tweet on every rocket they fired on their official Twitter account (AlQassam Brigades) and at the end of day, they actually tweeted about how many of rockets they fired on that particular day.

I see all this and then compare that to what role social media plays in Pakistan then I am sorry to say that social media will have minimal effect on elections in Pakistan. We are actually many steps behind on that front. Also, you have to keep the perceptions of people in mind... like @call for change simplified it in best way possible; agree on that.

I think print media and broadcasting media (TV, radio, etc.) will play a gigantic role, as it always does, and don't necessarily see social media playing any role of having impact or influence or the one that can change.

I foresee this kind of thing happening when the elections betide:

Facebook status: "I went to cast my vote. Lol." - He/She will have a chance to tell us about what turnover they say, how many people there were, what was security conditions, was the process easy and whether if that went on without any nuisance, etc... but no. We will actually see that status update, I assure you. That's the difference I am talking about in usage of social media in Pakistan and that of in foreign countries.

On Twitter, I predict the end game will be same. A useless tweet that he/she went to vote and came back home safely. If it was a foreign country, a person would be live-tweeting from A to Z, like many people did in U.S. elections such as: in one tweet they will say: "Just woke up. Big day. Let's go." After few moments another tweet will appear where they will be discussing about the atmosphere in street, another where they will tweet a picture of polling stations, another where he/she will tweet what people outside the polling stations are thinking and how they are excited, etc.

I think I've written much. Rest I will leave it on you.

I plan to live-tweet my voting experience. I'm sure, being in Pakistan and voting works here, I'll definitely be reporting any rigging, posting pictures of any bad experience, if any, to show all of my people and friends who follow me from many different countries because I OWE them and they NEED to know.

Thank you.

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`Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.` — John Lennon