​Youth netizens feel “insulted” at use of 50 “influencers” to promote Budget

Lianhe Zaobao, page 4

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) hired more than 50 social media “influencers” to promote greater awareness of the annual Budget announcement. But the move has been questioned and ridiculed by netizens. Asst Prof Liew Kai Khiun from NTU’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information said MOF’s advertisement could be more targeted. In addition to employing youth influencers, they can also explore some Budget topics that are related to youth, for example education, work and nurturing children. He said social media’s post effectiveness tends to be measured on likes, but it is not appropriate for Budget issues to adopt such overly simple measures.