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Jokowi-Ma'ruf more popular on social media, Prabowo-Sandiaga take Instagram, survey finds
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President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and his running mate Ma'ruf Amin arrive at Gatot Subroto Army Hospital in Jakarta for a medical check-up on Aug. 8. (Antara/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)
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residential candidate Prabowo Subianto and his running mate Sandiaga Uno are more popular on Instagram than President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Ma'ruf Amin, but the latter pair are favored overall on social media, a poll conducted by the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) has found.
The survey, conducted from Aug. 12 to 19, polled 1,200 respondents about who they would vote for in the 2019 presidential election.
Prabowo-Sandiaga defeated Jokowi-Ma’ruf on Instagram and Twitter, with 42 percent of Instagram users and 40 percent of Twitter users saying they supported the Gerindra Party-backed pair, compared to the 40.9 percent of Instagram users and 34.3 percent of Twitter users that supported Jokowi-Ma’ruf.
However, Jokowi-Ma'ruf were more popular across all social media platforms, including Facebook. Of the 28.5 percent of respondents who said they used social media, 48.3 percent preferred Jokowi-Ma'ruf, compared to Prabowo-Sandiaga’s 39.5 percent.
LSI researcher Ardian Sopa attributed the increase in support for Prabowo-Sandiaga to the demographic make-up of social media users.
“Social media users are mostly from the upper middle-class and are generally better informed and more likely to be critical of those in positions of power,” he said at the release of the survey results on Wednesday.
He said the #2019GantiPresiden (#2019ChangePresident) hashtag had also helped to boost support for Prabowo, although the hashtag has not trended as strongly since July.
Although the poll showed that 71.5 percent of respondents did not have a social media account, Ardian said candidates who ignored the online world did so at their own peril.
