Indonesia’s political culture in the new digital age: A preliminary discussion

Abstract

The development of increasingly accessible digital media has resulted in reasonably intense dynamics of political behaviour and articulation. However, the influence of the internet and social media use on Indonesian political culture has not been much discussed. This article explains changes in contemporary Indonesia’s political culture that align with the proliferation of new digital media by considering socio-political conditions and modernization. In its analysis, this article employs a historical-comparative method with an interpretive approach. The results of this study demonstrate that the traditional conception of power relation has historically influenced Indonesian political culture. In the post-Suharto era, the direct electoral system and primacy of television media promoted popular voter preferences that degraded traditional charismatic figures. The rise of the Internet and social media then had democratizing implications by increasing online public discussion. However, subsequent development of new digital media also illustrated counterproductive trajectory to democratic values as online frictions triggered ethnic and religious-based regrouping. Finally, this article considers that although widespread usage of the Internet and social media inspire democratic implications to Indonesian political culture, longstanding and deep-rooted traits, such as primordialism, persist within this more digitalized society.

Islamic Journalism reporting of the 2019 Indonesian presidential election

“…As regards RQ3, this research surmises that the relation between the two variables boils down to the stark contrast between the propaganda depiction of Prabowo, compared to the spiteful slander of Jokowi, as similarly pointed out by Irawanto [10] as well as Herdiansah and Sumadinata [9]. This indicated the zero-sum game at play, as previously argued by Davidai and Ongis [31].…”

“…The media is not innocent in this matter. The usage of conflict-oriented frames is evident in attacks thrown against incumbent President Joko Widodo, as critics are commonly found in online discourses [9]. This is further evidenced by the electoral campaigning conduct of choice on social media; identity politics through aggressive personal remarks [10].…”

Power relation of the 212 Islamic Group and the government in the 2019 presidential election

“…The Arab Spring incident is a popular resistance movement initiated by young people using information technology to bring down rulers (Athamneh & Sayej 2013). This event is also a sign that the 21st century is the era of information technology as an essential medium for human life (Herdiansah & Sumadinata 2019). Without meeting other people in person, through information technology in the 21st century or what is known as the internet age, political subjects can create meaning and exercise political control (Lynch 2015;Lim 2017).…”

Peran Media Sosial Di Era Transformasi Digital Sebagai Sarana Komunikasi Karang Taruna Masyarakat Kampung Parung Serab Ciledug

“…Peran media sosial di era transformasi pada kampung serab ciledug masih belum maksimal dalam penggunaan media sosial (Yunus, 2019). Maka dengan diadakannya kegiatan pengabdian kepada masyarakat ini diharapkan dapat membantu karang taruna kampong parung serab ciledug untuk dapat meningkatkan produktivitas dan efisiensi dalam menggunakan media sosial (Herdiansah, Sumadinata, Padjajaran, & Padjajaran, 2019;Sari, 2020). Sehingga dengan begitu dapat membantu memaksimalkan kegiatan karang taruna kampung parung serab ciledug.…”