G

overnor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo says he spends a few hours every day monitoring social media posts, particularly those talking about him.

“I usually spend a few hours around midnight reading Kompasiana blogposts about me and monitoring other social media outlets in my spare time or while trapped in traffic jams,” the governor said during a discussion with bloggers from the Kompasiana site owned by Kompas.com, in Palmerah, Central Jakarta, on Thursday.

“Reading these things is very entertaining and refreshing.”

The popularity of Jokowi, who was second runner-up in the 2012 World Mayor Prize in recognition of his work as Surakarta’s mayor, has rocketed over the past year, particularly after he endorsed car assembled by students from a local vocational high school, using it as his official car in early 2012.

Kompas.com director Taufik H. Mihardja acknowledged that “Jokowi” is a strong keyword for pushing the number of page views on his portals.

“Every article, both on Kompas.com and Kompasiana, that mentions Jokowi in the title will generate abundant clicks,” he said.

During the discussion, Jokowi answered questions raised by Kompasiana bloggers ranging from those on from urban issues to his leadership style and to his life under the media spotlight since he was elected to the office since October.

Bloggers who participated in the discussion acknowledged that the governor was a magnet for mainstream and new media.

“I once wrote a story about his wife and her humble handbag made of recycled cement sacks. Within a few hours my page had been viewed by thousands of netizens,” Sumarti Saelan said.

Blogger Joshua Martin said that Jokowi has everything a leader needs but one thing.

“He doesn’t have a blog or a personal website as a means to interact and communicate with the people,” he said, referring to the success story of US President Barack Obama, whose popularity as a presidential candidate was partly boosted by adequate online presence.