Jokowi keeps eye on his social media direct messages

A video recently released on President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s YouTube channel revealed a thing or two about the President, including his penchant for social media. 

Two of his aide’s assistants, First Lieutenant Teddy Indra Wijaya and First Inspector Syarif Muhammad Fitriansyah, said at the end of the day, the President reads the direct messages addressed to him on social media. 

“When he is alone or when his activities for the day are done, he watches YouTube, reads the news, as well as accesses his social media accounts,” said Teddy. 

“He reads all the direct messages from the public, he really does. At times, he would ask us, ‘What’s this? Please check if the complaint is true’,” he added.

The assistants of the President’s aide differ from the Presidential Security Detail (Paspampres), as they are responsible in helping the President carry out out his daily activities while Paspampres deals with security. 

Read also: Why you should watch Jokowi’s latest vlog with King Salman

The assistants' daily interactions with the President also revealed another side of Jokowi, who is always asked for selfies upon meeting the public. As someone who often takes the pictures, Syarif said the President insists on having the best photos. “He would always check the photo afterward. If it’s bad or blurred, he would ask for another photo. Once it’s good and he approves, he will return the phone to its owner and say, ‘Here you go, this is nice’,” he said. 

When asked about what they can learn from the President, the assistants replied that he is a hard worker. “He is also a good role model as a father; he is a family man,” said Syarif. 

For closing words, the aide’s assistants were asked to describe the President in a few words. Teddy said, “He has so many ideas.” To which Syarif added, “Yes, [he is] unpredictable.”

The video was uploaded on Wednesday and at the time of writing has been viewed more than 301,000 times. (wng)