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Dates, 'mudik' by car top Ramadhan topics on social media: Isentia
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Naturally sweet dates have just enough sweetness, while the sweetened ones tend to be overly sweet. Forty-one percent of social media users preferred eating dates to break their fast, according to research by Isentia. (Shutterstock/Gorkem Demir)
T
raveling by car during the Idul Fitri mudik (exodus) and eating dates to break-the-fast are two of the most talked about topics related to Ramadhan on social media, according to data from Isentia.
The media intelligence and data technology company monitored various social media channels from Jan. 1 until May 16, which was the last day before the fasting month began.
As a result, the Australian-based Isentia found that 37 percent from 91,614 conversations on social media discussed using a car as the choice mode of transportation for mudik. The preference was followed by discussions of mudik using a train (19 percent), motorcycle (17 percent), bus (11 percent), ship (8 percent) and airplane (7 percent).
Isentia's insight manager, Rendy Ezra, said talks of mudik with cars was popular due to the various existing offers available for driving, such as free gas and free car service during Ramadhan, as well as discounts on the vehicles throughout the month.
Read also: Children’s guide to fasting during Ramadhan
On the topic of breaking-the-fast, 41 percent of social media users preferred eating dates to start. Gorengan (fried foods) followed in second place with 37 percent, kolak (bananas stewed in coconut milk) with 17 percent and lontong (rice cakes) with 5 percent.
"This finding can be used as a reference, especially for a company holding an event or choosing a theme for their activities in the month of Ramadhan. For instance, there's a company that distributed 3 tons of dates during the month of Ramadhan to a community as part of a corporate action, while some distributed takjil [breaking-of-the-fast snacks] and dates to break-the-fast," Rendy said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the research also found Twitter as the most-used social media platform for discussions, with 68.5 percent of the conversations happening on the micro-blogging site, followed by various online forums with 18.7 percent, Facebook with 7.2 percent and Instagram in last place with 5.4 percent. (liz/wng)
