Popular Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) made headlines last week when he was publicly snubbed by his own party and accused of conspicuously promoting himself on social media to pursue his ambition to run for president. His popularity well exceeded Puan Maharani, daughter of the party’s chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri and potential challenger for the PDI-P’s presidential nomination.

But Ganjar is not the only politician who has been using social media to boost his popularity. 

Read also: Ganjar’s popularity irks PDI-P elites

Social media has been deployed as a channel for political campaigns and to engage young voters since Indonesia’s third direct presidential election in 2014, which was dubbed by some as the first ever Twitter election. It was reported that the ground-level rallying supporters on social media during the last week of campaigning helped to boost the support for President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

“It was the country’s first large-scale experiment with social media in politics,” said Wisnu Prasetyo Utomo, a lecturer of communication science at Gadjah Mada University.

He said many politicians, once dependent on their political parties for political marketing, have since tried to recreate the success of Jokowi’s social media strategy and to use their own platforms to reach their constituents and potential supporters more independently.