A

s the 2019 elections near, politics has quickly dominated daily conversations in the social media sphere.

Social media giant Twitter identified politics as one of the most talked about topics among Indonesian users throughout 2018, along with sports, entertainment and petty jokes.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) formalized the presidential candidacies of incumbent Joko “Jokowi” Widodo alongside Ma’ruf Amin and Prabowo Subianto and running mate Sandiaga Uno in September, marking the beginning of the 2019 presidential election, slated for April 17.

“Political topics, apart from current news, sport and entertainment, were often trending topics on Indonesian timelines, particularly when something significant occurred,” Twitter Indonesia public policy head Agung Yudha said in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The political occasions that dominated the trending topics on Twitter throughout the year included the announcement of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates in August and the simultaneous regional elections in June.

The rise of political topics on Twitter is apparent in the list of the most popular hashtags used by Indonesians throughout the year, with #2019TetapJokowi (2019StillJokowi) and #2019PrabowoSandi ranking fifth and sixth respectively. Tweets from fans of Korean Pop group the Bangtan Boys, using hashtag #BTS, topped the list.

The hashtag #2019TetapJokowi captured the heated social media war among Indonesian Twitter users ahead of the 2019 presidential election, and was created by supporters of the incumbent to counter the hashtag #2019GantiPresiden (2019ChangePresident), which has grown popular since January.

The #2019PrabowoSandi hashtag enlivened Indonesian timelines after the announcement of the pair’s candidacy, and aimed to counter the #2019JokowiMaruf hashtag.

Apart from hashtags, Indonesia’s inclination for talking about politics on social media was also highlighted by the top 10 Twitter accounts that users mentioned in their tweets, half of which were those of politicians.

Jokowi topped the list, followed by his opponent Prabowo, who ranked fourth. Gerindra Party chairman Fadli Zon, House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Fahri Hamzah and Sandiaga also made their way onto the list, ranking sixth, eighth and ninth, respectively.

“These people [are popular because they] always engage in the ongoing conversations on Twitter, for example, during the Asian Games [in August],” said Dwi Adriansah, Twitter country industry head for Indonesia and the Philippines.

Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti was the only female official to appear on the list of the most mentioned names on Twitter thanks to her online activity as well as her unique approach when interacting with the public.

Indonesian users also often talked about political parties, with Gerindra and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), of which Jokowi is a member, ranking first and second, respectively.

Smaller parties, such as the Indonesia Solidarity Party (PSI) and the Crescent Star Party (PBB), made it into the top 10, ranking sixth and seventh, above the old establishment Golkar Party, which sits at the bottom.

Social media observer Nukman Luthfie noted the growing interest in politics among Twitter users, who previously preferred to talk more about entertainment issues on social media.

“While people still turn to Twitter mostly for entertainment, supporters of both camps have brought the debate onto the platform [Twitter]; which sometimes escalates into offensive acts,” Nukman said.

Indonesians are known to be among the most active Twitter users, while Jakarta was named the most active Twitter city in 2012. The capital city produced two percent of 10.6 billion public tweets in June that year.

In 2016, Twitter recorded that its Indonesian users had posted around 4.1 billion tweets throughout the year.