The Role of Young People and Social Media in Promoting Fascinating Sungai Petani
Abstract
This article explores the ways in which young people, acting as social agents, utilise social media to promote local communities. Through the utilisation of digital platforms, these young individuals are exerting a growing impact on the economic, cultural, and social aspects of their local environments. The problem addressed is the need to understand the effectiveness of social media in reaching and engaging audiences. The objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of social media platforms used by young people in reaching a target audience. A quantitative method was employed to track the number of views, likes, shares, and comments of a promotional video over a specified 30-day timeframe. The major results indicate significant audience engagement, evidenced by high numbers of views, likes, shares, and comments. The results also emphasise the significant influence of social media initiatives driven by young people in improving local visibility and engagement. By improving the visibility of local communities, this strategy aims to increase the number of visitors to Sungai Petani and simultaneously enhance the socio-economic level of local people and the area. The conclusion highlights the potential of young people as influential social agents in promoting local communities through the use of social media.
Downloads
References
Alshehri, A. (2024). Social Media in Tourism: A Twitter (X) Social Graph Approach to #Alula. Journal of Tourism and Services, 15(28), 253–267. https://doi.org/10.29036/jots.v15i28.715 DOI: https://doi.org/10.29036/jots.v15i28.715
Cave, J., & Dredge, D. (2020). Regenerative tourism needs diverse economic practices. Tourism Geographies, 22(3). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2020.1768434
Eleni, K., Eugenia, P., & Iordanis, K. (2023). Social Media and Influencer Marketing for Promoting Sustainable Tourism Destinations: The Instagram Case. Sustainability, 15(8), 6374. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15086374 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su15086374
Elmo, G., Ali, F., & Smith, P. (2022). Social Media Marketing and Its Influence on Sustainable Tourism Development. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 30(2), 229-246.
Godfrey, K., & Clarke, J. (2000). The tourism development handbook: A practical approach to planning and marketing.
Ismail, N. (2014). Young people's use of new media through communities of practice. (PhD), Monash University, Australia.
Joo, Y., Seok, H., & Nam, Y. (2020). The Moderating Effect of Social Media Use on Sustainable Rural Tourism: A Theory of Planned Behavior Model. Sustainability, 12(10), 4095. https://doi.org/10.3390/SU12104095 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12104095
Jupiter Research. (2009). Blogs and Social Media: Understanding the Influence on Consumer Behavior. New York: Jupiter Media Metrix.
Kamaluddin, N. N. F., Md Jailani, S. J., Mohd Yusoff, S., & Mohd Akhuan, N. (2023). Effects of the Tourism Information Quality in Social Media in Generating Destination Brand Awareness among Youth. Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (MJSSH), 8(9), e002522. https://doi.org/10.47405/mjssh.v8i9.2522 DOI: https://doi.org/10.47405/mjssh.v8i9.2522
Kemp, S. (2024). Digital 2024: Malaysia. We Are Social & Hootsuite.
Lenhart, A., Anderson, M., & Smith, A. (2015). Teens, technology, and romantic relationships. Pew Research Center. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/01/teens-technology-and-romantic-relationships/
Mahadi, N. (2013, June 16, 2013). 13.3 million Malaysians are Facebook users. The Borneo Post.
Mesch, G. S. (2009). The internet and youth culture. The Hedgehog Review, 11(1), 50-60.
NCER Malaysia. 2009-2024.Kedah. North Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA). retrieved from https://www.ncer.com.my/about-ncer/ncer-states/kedah/
Ong, J. O., H.Sutawijaya, A., & Saluy, A. B. (2020). Strategi Inovasi Model Bisnis Ritel Modern Di Era Industri 4.0. Jurnal Ilmiah Manajemen Bisnis, 6(02).
Pike, S., & Page, S. J. (2014). Destination Marketing Organizations and destination marketing: A narrative analysis of the literature. Tourism Management, 41, 202–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2013.09.009 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2013.09.009
Putri, R. D. (2020). Strategi komunikasi rumah kreatif sleman dalam upaya pengembangan UMKM di era ekonomi digital. COMMICAST, 1(1), 14. DOI: https://doi.org/10.12928/commicast.v1i1.2412
Raco, E. (2014). Aussie teens online. ACMA.
Radojevic, R., Nguyen, D., Bajec, J., & Ferra, I. (2020). Visual framing and migrant discourses in social media: The story of Idomeni on Instagram. In Understanding Media and Society in the Age of Digitalization. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38577-4_8
Schwartz, A., Schwartz, C., Roman, S., & Nistor, C. (2016). Youth, Youth Work and their Impact on the Community. The International Symposium Research and Education in an Innovation Era, 112–122.
Shewmaker, J. (2012). Youth and social media. Retrieved June 17, 2015, from http://socialmedia week.org/newyork/2012/02/15/youth-and-social-media/
Silaban, P. H., Hutabarat, L., Silalahi, A. D. K., & Octoyuda, E. (2022). Does destination promotion on social media affect visit intention? Empirical study on Instagram. Jurnal Manajemen Dan Pemasaran Jasa, 15(2), 147–160. https://doi.org/10.25105/jmpj.v15i2.13516 DOI: https://doi.org/10.25105/jmpj.v15i2.13516
Simon Kemp.2024. Digital 2024: Malaysia. Retrieved from https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2024-malaysia#
Tourism Malaysia. (2020). Malaysia Tourism: Key Performance Indicators 2020. https://www.tourism.gov.my/files/uploads/Key_Performance_Indicators_2020.pdf
Tourism Malaysia. (2023). Malaysia Tourism: Key Performance Indicators 2023. https://data.tourism.gov.my/frontend/pdf/Malaysia-Tourism-Key-Performance-Indicators-2023.pdf
Tourism Malaysia. (2024). Malaysian Outbound and Domestic Travel Behavior. https://www.tourism.gov.my/files/uploads/fast-fact-tourism-highlights-jan-june-2024.pdf
Travel + Leisure. (2024). This Country Was Just Named the Safest in Asia — and It's a Top Spot for Peace and Quiet, Too. https://www.travelandleisure.com/malaysia-named-the-safest-country-to-visit-in-asia-8758195
Tyrrell, K. (2023). Youth Social Action: Shaping Communities, Driving Change. In Critical Perspectives on Research with Children (pp. 96-116). Bristol University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1332/policypress/9781529216776.003.0007
Zhang, Y., Wang, X., & Huang, S. (2023). The Impact of Social Media on Destination Image and Tourist Behaviour: A Review of Recent Advances. Tourism Review, 78(4), 749-768.
Copyright (c) 2025 Noorlailahusna Mohd Yusof, Intan Syahriza Azizan, Nor Ardyanti Ahmad, Junaida Ismail, Siti Norfazlina Yusoff

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Author (s) should affirm that the material has not been published previously. It has not been submitted and it is not under consideration by any other journal. At the same time author (s) need to execute a publication permission agreement to assume the responsibility of the submitted content and any omissions and errors therein. After submission of revised paper in the light of suggestions of the reviewers, the editorial team edits and formats manuscripts to bring uniformity and standardization in published material.
This work will be licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) and under condition of the license, users are free to read, copy, remix, transform, redistribute, download, print, search or link to the full texts of articles and even build upon their work as long as they credit the author for the original work. Moreover, as per journal policy author (s) hold and retain copyrights without any restrictions.