News channels, publications and other media around the world are furiously reporting that Indonesia has embraced the ‘online and digital craze’ and that at the forefront of this craze is social media. They are not wrong; the adoption of this new phenomenon is at hockey stick trajectory and is set to continue its rise over this decade thanks to the relatively low level of internet penetration (21 percent) when compared to the ceiling of opportunity.
The recent adoption of this new behaviour I believe is in in part thanks to three key factors…
Firstly it is the ‘zero fees’ offered by every major Telco (9 in total) allowing users to get free internet access to Twitter and Facebook ( Yahoo’s free ride of cross marketing promotion has in part suffered to their refusal to follow suit). This has created massive demand and is the new, trendy way to communicate. Where SMS used to be the norm, people are now either Instant Messaging using Blackberry or mass communicating to their legions of followers using twitter. This coupled with the entry by Chinese manufactured smart phones (retailing for as low as $30 USD), audiences from the lower socio skew have now been able to get online without the need to visit i-cafes. TNS Research Data released last quarter states that nearly 60% of all internet is accessed now via mobile devices.
Secondly, it’s the nature of the Indonesian people to be social, warm and talkative. Here, the social nucleus extends beyond immediate family and into neighbourhoods, schools, communities, alumni, and throughout the work and life cycle of every Indonesian. It is not uncommon for the average Indonesian Facebook user to have well over 1000 friends and regularly post to and monitor Facebook several times a day. The ‘status update’ is also a sign of status and the ability to use new trending apps like foursquare, Koprol and Instgr.am proves that they are mobile, wealthy, trendy and like to be seen out and about. The idea of socially congregating at a venue extends right from Tweens through to young adults and even among the business circles. Where people gather in ‘gangs’ of a dozen or more, from the underage hangouts of Seven Eleven through to the more hipster joints of DragonFly, SHY, and Immigrant; even the business community will have their own venues of Loewys, Union and Social House. It’s a ‘be seen’ scene and that easily extends onto social media.
Lastly, it’s the rapid urbanisation of the country and the movement to cities. The difficulty of commuting due to excessive traffic congestion and infrastructural problems mean that people tend to work, play and live within a close proximity with a smaller network of peers. Meaning face-to-face conversations outside these areas with their larger social network are less likely to occur regularly. Communication with friends and family members is still a vital part of daily life and cannot be sacrificed due to the inconvenience of daily congestion. Welcome, social networks. Keeping in touch with rural roots, old connections, new found business connections or even just chatting across the city is now easier and cheaper via the digital connection. Lifestyle and communication has now merged into a seamless flow of socialising using social media tools.
Of course there have been barriers to the growth. The aging infrastructure, connectivity speeds and a cellular internet connection that uses triangulation towers as opposed to satellites mean that getting a connection is as temperamental as it is reliable. This still hasn’t stopped over 20 percent of the population accessing digital and online through various devices. Facebook’s 40 million Indonesian accounts are quoted as representing 17% of the total population size. Twitter accounts are now quoted at 10 million. With around 250 million inhabitants, the saturation point for growth is far from achieved. Despite the 2008 financial crisis, Indonesia has since emerged with a 4 – 6 percent annual economic growth for the past 3 years which has fuelled the TAM (Total Available Market) growth predictions of companies like Intel, Acer, Dell, HTC, Apple, Samsung and many others and created customer tech feeding frenzies and Telco price wars.
‘Social media’ and the buzz around digital has also put Indonesia onto the map among the Silicon Valley giants of Google, Facebook, Yahoo and many other social e-commerce players like Groupon, Living Social and Multiply. Each of these have already opened, partnered with local players or have ambitions to open an office here by end of 2011.
Politicians, social commentators and religious groups are also paying close attention to this new wave of communication expressionism. I believe the country was ripe for such an event, the timing and democracy conditions seem to have been perfect; and with such a large, multi-cultural and diverse population; this new platform has really taken off among the youth, urbanites and thought leaders.
Freedom to post, share and converse online has also brought some issues to the forefront of a new democracy. A hard-line Islamic group has recently opened a twitter account, only to be responded to by a group opposing the first group also opening a twitter account (the latter has several thousand more followers, which is promising). Adoption of social media here among businesses, brands and organisations has lately been a case of neighbourhood dominoes as opposed to a well thought out strategic investment plan into how, where and why.
Other cases of ‘freedom to post’ include a woman who complained of terrible service and mistreatment at a private hospital. She subsequently told a few friends via email and her issue went viral quickly. The hospital took her to court and prosecuted her for slander and libel. The case was first dismissed, but the hospital refused to back down, they insisted on a re-trial, to which she was found guilty and ordered to serve jail time. Public outrage then saw her jail time reduced to probation and she was ordered to not use her email account. The Hospital then responded and took her case further to the Supreme Court – case now pending a further trial. Social media support has raised all her legal fees and is continuing to back her ability to openly criticise mistreatment, malpractice and misrepresentation. All of which was not possible five years ago and if it happened, the big corporations and businesses would usually badgered the smaller complainant into submission. Without a doubt, Indonesia still suffers from bullying among its power brokers.
These cases just highlight the gap between freedom of expression in new media and the in-ability for brands and services to manage negative conversations. A two edged sword of issues becomes apparent that along with freedom to speak in a public, open and large forum comes the need to tread carefully and monitor what’s being said and to whom. Inflammation and tender hooks aside, the ability to reach, rally and mobilize a population this large can be wielded both for good and bad.
Of course, the idea of management of conversation flies in the face of democracy. “What?!” I hear you ask. “A public forum watched and monitored by businesses, governments and a team of legal representatives waiting to shut down and discredit anyone that sings slightly out of tune”.
Let’s not be naïve enough to think that this is not already happening in every western country and democracy across the world. Only difference with Indonesia is that since it is such a new democracy with a turbulent past and potentially challenging future, one would argue it needs a system of monitoring and observation to avoid flammable disasters. But then, who polices the policemen? When a society already dealing with mistrust of police, government corruption all of a sudden finds out its government is monitoring their conversations it could cause even greater resentment and mistrust.
Let’s look at the recent revolutions across North Africa, The Middle East, the protests in Malaysia and even the riots across England, each situation somewhat unique was quickly inflamed and escalated because of instant chat, instant communications and instant organisation of a public that was frustrated and angry with its government or societal inequalities.
It’s a potential quagmire of issues, one that is no doubt discussed behind closed doors and in hallways of power. But fret not, at this point; issues are still mainly among the fringes. Most people are minding their own (and their friends’) business on this new and exciting platform and riding the wave of cute kitten videos, dancing policeman, pics from last night’s get together and tweeting about what they’ve just had for lunch.
It’s a narcissistic world, and for now everyone is still just talking about themselves…
Sampai jumpa dari Jakarta.
By David Chalken
[Picture Source]
