T

o politicians popularity matters, which is why many of them seek out social media platforms to enlarge their support base and reach out to a larger audience when it comes to introducing policies or receiving feedback.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is a world leader whose penchant for social media use has earned him national and international fame. The latest report from Burson Marsteller on “World Leaders on Instagram” ranks Jokowi in fourth place after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Donald Trump and Pope Francis.

Jokowi seems to know his strengths very well and how he can maximize them via social media.

Known for his simplicity, he has uploaded video blogs, or vlogs, about activities that common people do, such as getting a hair-cut at a barbershop, welcoming his newborn goats or taking on his youngest son in an armwrestling duel. The vlogs remind people of Jokowi’s popular campaign tagline “Jokowi is us”, a tagline that helped him win the presidency.

One of the vlogs that went viral was his lunch with the visiting King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, also known as “the guardian of Islam’s holy shrines”, on March 1.

To some, Jokowi was thought to have breached normally tight state protocols by turning a formal function into an informal, if not family-esque, affair.

Social media plays a key role in winning public sympathy, as happened in the case of a housewife whose court battle with the management of a hospital triggered a public movement in support of her several years ago. Nobody can now win elections without making full use of social media, which has changed the way people communicate, either.

Of the many platforms on offer, vlogs seem to have won Jokowi over, as it serves as an effective medium to deliver his message to an audience that ranges from school children to elders.

Jokowi, who does not possess the oratory skills of founding president Sukarno, acknowledges that he intentionally chooses vlogs to make it easier for him to communicate with the younger generation.

Some of Jokowi’s ministers have emulated him amid reports of a third Cabinet reshuffle that many believe is looming following the Jakarta election. Whether the trick will work only Jokowi knows, but it goes without saying that the ministers need public support in order to remain in their posts.

Given their practical way of thinking, and because time won’t permit, it is unlikely that politicians, including Jokowi, will someday start blogging to express their views about various matters facing the country.

Despite many advantages, social media outlets have their owns flaws, especially in the event of political contestation. The recent race for Jakarta governor saw cyber armies of both tickets attack and counterattack one another with tons of false news, if not hate speech, further exacerbating a social divide that may take quite a long time to close.