Indonesians on #LoveWins

Image: Diricia De Wet via Flickr, CC license

This week, I chose to read the ‘Networked Creators’ chapter from Rainie and Wellman (2012).  Their discussion focused on the creation in the era of triple revolution. “Anyone with an internet connection and a bit of digital literacy can create online content...”, they said (p. 197).

I would like to relate Rainie & Wellman’s chapter to the latest social media phenomenon: #LoveWins and rainbow profile picture in Indonesia. After the U.S Supreme Court legalized same sex marriage on June 26, Indonesian digital users are divided into two extreme sides. It is a digital war!  Here, I do not want to discuss the substance but more on social media interactions related to the issue. It is worth noting that LGBT was still included as mental illnesses until 1993 (two decades after the U.S!). Moreover, although Indonesia is a secular state, the fact that Islam is a majority religion still influences dominant values adopted in its social-cultural, political, and legal systems.

Two points on the chapter that I would like to highlight are:

How All This User-Generated Content Is Changing the Media Landscape

Pro and cons content initiated by social media elites showing their opinion on same-sex marriage legalization soon created a heated public debate in many platforms, particularly Twitter and Facebook. Contents were re-tweeted, re-posted, created and re-created. The phenomenon influenced traditional media to also cover this issue. In the past week, I have seen more than two talk shows on national TVs. The issue was evolved into the discussion on LGBT rights in Indonesia. Interestingly, some speakers in the talk shows were chosen because of the social media contents they created.

Everybody Wants To Get Into The Act

The use of hashtags such as #LoveWins and Facebook’s rainbow profile feature have facilitated digital users to ‘act’. These actions received both positive and negative reactions. Some followed the actions, some created counterarguments, some commented on others. It is amazing how social media give opportunities for people to voice their opinion.

However, I also noticed one thing. For some users, it is a war! Not only on the issue but also on the individuals. One of my friend’s FB post supporting LGBT rights (he is a university professor), for instance, received hundreds of hatred comment, which mostly attacked the person who created the content. Some comments even threatened the person saying that he should be ’stopped’ for promoting ideas that could bring harm to the societies. I feel sad. Isn’t it democratization of media participation that makes Web 2.0 amazing? Is it cultural? Is it common elsewhere? Or is it related to education or economic levels?