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oday'€™s voters are part of a generation who want to be connected not only with their peer group but also with other groups. Promoting oneself via online media platforms, such as YouTube, Google+, Google+ Hangout and Twitter, is seen as effective way to attract voters and influence public opinion during electoral campaigns.

Google Indonesia country marketing manager Krishna Zulkarnain said that such platforms were crucial, since the number of Internet users in the country had doubled from nearly 40 million during the 2009 election to 80 million in 2014. The figure is expected to exceed 100 million in 2015.

'€œThis fact has changed the way Indonesians communicate with one another and how they engage the community. Five years ago, traditional campaigning was still an effective way to reach out to voters, but this year, the Internet is able to improve the quality of their campaigns and communication with voters,'€ Krishna said in Jakarta on Wednesday on the sidelines of Google Day.

He said that engaging in social media had developed into a lifestyle among Indonesians, and it was not limited to youth or those under 35 years old.

Many Indonesians fear they will miss some information, since the globally connected lifestyle has changed them into a community that is thirsty for every news update.

Thus, Krishna said, legislative and presidential candidates who used such platforms would have a greater chance of reaching out to more voters, including those voting abroad.

'€œPlatforms like Google+ Hangout can help them conduct live conferences and meetings with many people. Figures like President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and President Barack Obama use this tool to communicate,'€ he added, while showing a video in which Yudhoyono conducted a coordination meeting on the Riau haze with a number of
departments and stakeholders.

The Jakarta administration also uses a YouTube page to post every meeting and blusukan (impromptu visit) by Governor Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo and Deputy Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama to make the events publically transparent.

Ridha Fidyana, a House of Representatives (DPR) candidate representing the United Development Party (PPP), said she wanted to use social media to promote her platform.

Ridha, who hopes to sit on House Commission X on education, culture, youth and sports, said she would talk further with her campaign team on her online campaign strategies in order to attract voters.

'€œI have a YouTube page and Twitter account, but I have yet to use them effectively. After realizing that this platform will enable everyone, including Indonesian voters abroad, to talk to me, I am going to post almost everything I do on the online platform,'€ she said.

Ridha also has her own website that helps her promote her activities and opinions on education and social issues.

She hopes that the online applications will make the PPP more popular among young voters, who make up 30 percent of total eligible voters in the country.

'€œThis party is in transition from the old generation to the young one. I want to show the next generation that the PPP is youth friendly and will always accommodate their voices,'€ she said.