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one-and-a-half-minute video has gone viral on social media these last couple of days. The video shows a woman, who appears to be wearing nothing but a black thong, standing in front of a cashier at a drug store to make a purchase in Taman Sari, West Jakarta.

“We don’t see something like this every day […] You make the cashier nervous,” a man said as he filmed her, following the woman with a dozen other onlookers until she entered a black taxi that had been waiting for her.

While some netizens tried to assess her state of mind, others expressed concerns over the bystanders’ lack of action, as none of them inquired about her atypical behavior or offered to help cover her up.

Wulan Danoekoesoemo, a psychologist at Bina Nusantara International University, said the incident, in which people stood around watching and recording her without communicating with her, could force us to reflect on what society has become.

Wulan said the root of the problem was tied to social media, through which people with low self-esteem often seek out validation from others to boost their self-confidence.

She said that countering such phenomena needed to start from the smallest circle of society: the family.

“The core problem of everything is how a person is raised in a family. A lot of parents punish their children when they do bad things but do not appreciate them enough when they do good things. This will shape them into a person with low self-esteem,” Wulan told The Jakarta Post recently.

There have been other similar videos and pictures on social media. Months ago, a video went viral of two high school girls punching each other while surrounded by their friends who only stood by and recorded everything without intervening.

Social analyst Devie Rahmawati from the University of Indonesia said the incident showed how social media crystalized apathy in an urban society.

“Social media nowadays is the proof, the face, the display of a modern urban society that does not want to be involved in other people’s real life, where ‘your problem is yours, and what’s mine is mine’,” Devie told the Post.

The notion that people living in a metropolitan area tend to be egocentric is not new. However, Devie said that the alienation occurring in urban cultures has been exacerbated by the use of gadgets and social media, which she argues dulls empathy.

“The effect of social media is unbelievable in society. The most important thing is capturing the moment and sharing it. Helping people is just an alternative priority,” she said.

Mamik Sri Supatmi, a criminologist from the University of Indonesia, meanwhile, said that the case in Taman Sari would not have gone viral if it was a man who appeared naked.

“It’s because she’s a girl. The culture of Indonesian society emphasizes women’s nudity as if they’re a symbol of lust. Their bodies will always be seen as a sex object,” she said.

Mamik pointed out that it was not the first case of public nudity, saying there were guys who masturbated in public facilities and lots of exhibitionists out there, but none of them got the media coverage like the Taman Sari case.

“I don’t think any men will get coverage like this, except if he’s gay. If the naked person is someone who is a heterosexual male, he won’t get coverage like this. For ages, nudity has always been tied to women. Our society can’t differentiate between a person who needs help and a person who commits a crime,” said Mamik. (hol)

– Mauditha Angela, an intern at The Jakarta Post, contributed to this story.