[Press Release] Becoming Social Media Peacemaker | Digitalk #27

Magelang, 27^th March 2019 – In collaboration with SiberKreasi and Universitas Tidar, Center for Digital Society held School of Influencer, an event which emphasized the importance of youth to create a peaceful digital environment by creating more positive content on the internet. There were more than 150 people coming to Auditorium Universitas Tidar to share with Gracia Respati (peace activist of Search for Common Ground), Iradat Wirid (researcher at Center for Digital Society) and Mentari Novel (singer and YouTuber) on how to be a peacemaker on social media. With more than 150 million Indonesians using social media, society is prone to false news and hoax. Indonesia is the 60^th out of 61 countries on literacy survey according to Central Connecticut State University research on 2016. In the wake of election, it is more urgent than ever to spread out peace and positive messages to combat hate speech and false information on online realm.

Peace and Youth

Gracia Respati opened the discussion with a talk about ‘The Role of Youth in Peacebuilding’. Traditionally in some conflicting nations, youths are often seen as either victim or suspect. But value has shifted. Young generation can now be an active peacemaker, by starting peace campaign and solving problems with non-violence actions. UN stated that youths have a prominent role to spread out positivity and harmony in order to end conflicts. According to UNFPA, there are 1,8 billion youth age 10-24 all over the world, most of them living in developing countries like Indonesia. Gracia told audience there are many peace initiative communities in Indonesia like Sabang Merauke, Youth Interfaith Peacemaker Community and Pamflet Generasi that youth can join. “These initiatives are not new. However, we need to give young generation more spotlight, so that they can shine. Youths need to involve in decision making process. Their participation is paramount to harness harmony within society,” said Gracia. She was concerned that spreading peace is not very “trendy” for youth. Making peace attractive and fun for them becomes one of the challenges to peace-building activists. “Tolerance and unity are rooted within Indonesians. It is our duty to bring back those values in modern life.”

Stopping Hoax and Fake News on Social Media

Social media is a platform for us to interact and socialize by creating and exchanging information or ideas in virtual network. Out of 240 million Indonesian citizen, 150 million are actively using social media. One hundred and thirty million of them accessing social media by phone. Based on a research conducted by Hootsuite, YouTube and WhatsApp are netizen’s favorite. Youths, ranging from age 18-34, becomes the most active internet user. Even though social media brings opportunities, it has its setbacks. Social media is prone to fake news. Hoax or false news increases because of rapid information exchange, low digital literacy and poorly enforced internet regulation. Netizen corrupted by hoax is quite hard to change because of filter bubble. Filter bubble is created by social media algorithm which keep feeding us with similar information based on our search, comment, click and like. Iradat warned, “In a way, filter algorithm allows us to learn topics deeply, but it also traps us into endless false information if we are not careful.” He gave 6 tips to detect hoax: cite profiling, double check or comparing news, checking news source and writer background, identifying news style, filtering news before sharing, and fact checking.

The Role of Social Media Influencer in Combating Hoax

Mentari Novel, singer and YouTuber, shared her story about being social media influencer. She enjoyed creating positive content in her channel. “Spreading kindness & striving to make a better world is my motto,” she began. Many people praised her song covers and other videos she made, but some people are not very kind in their comments. She told audience becoming social media influencer is not easy. Influencers have to put up with negative comments or judgment in order to keep producing content without losing audience.  “If you want to be influencer, what you should have is strong mentality.

We can choose who we listen to. If the comment helps you to grow, then listen to it. I always ask for my family and friends’ opinion about it,” Mentari said. She encouraged audience not to write anything on social media in anger because its trail will stay as your digital footprints. Anonymity makes social media a very convenient platform to spill out our thoughts without enduring immediate consequences. Therefore, it should be every individual’s responsibility to use social media and the internet responsibly by filtering news and spreading positive message in our content.

Written by: Nabiila Nurfitri

CfDS (Center for Digital Society) UGM is a multi-disciplinary research center that is established under the Faculty of Social & Political Sciences University of Gadjah Mada. This research center is built upon the concern over the contemporary dynamics of socio-political condition of the world that is accentuated by the impeccable influence of information technology. The phenomenon triggers the new patterns and complexities in the society, and thus requires new approaches in managing such complexities. Our research and other activities are based on spirits that is aligned with our motto, productive, innovative, & influential.