Social Media and Politics in Indonesia Anders C. Johansson Stockholm School of Economics Stockholm School of Economics Asia Working Paper No. 42 December 2016 Stockholm China Economic Research Institute | Stockholm School of Economics | Box 6501 | S-113 83 Stockholm | Sweden Social Media and Politics in Indonesia Anders C. Johansson* Stockholm School of Economics December 2016 * E-mail:
[email protected]. Financial support from the Marianne & Marcus Wallenberg Foundation is gratefully acknowledged. 1 Social Media and Politics in Indonesia Abstract Does social media have the potential to influence the political process more in certain countries? How do political actors and citizens use social media to participate in the political process? This paper analyzes these questions in the context of contemporary Indonesia, a country with a young democracy and a vibrant emerging economy. First, the relationships between traditional and social media and politics are discussed. Then, the current situation in Indonesia’s traditional media industry and how it may have helped drive the popularity of social media in Indonesia is analyzed. Finally, the paper discusses social media in today’s Indonesia and provides examples of how political actors and citizens use social media in the political process. JEL Classifications: D72; L82 Keywords: Indonesia; Social media; Media; Politics; Democratic process; Political process; Media industry 2 1 Introduction The use and popularity of social networking sites online has increased dramatically over the last decade. In a recent study by the Pew Research Center (2015), it was reported that 65 percent of all adults in the United States use some form of social media, a ten times increase from 2005 to 2015.