Is K-pop Indonesian political parties latest tool to entice young voters?
Divided reaction
Supporters are divided about the political parties tweets offering free tickets.
An account with the username @Blink_OFCINDO, dedicated to Blackpink, wrote, Hello, @Gerindra; please take down this post. We ask you not to bring Blackpinks name to your political interests. Thank you.
To which Gerindra: Hello there. Good afternoon. Theres no political interest whatsoever. There is also no suggestion or direction to choose this or that. If anyone interprets it in such a way, we shall return it to their own perspective. Thank you.
The Blackpink fan account is not the only one that was not impressed with political parties posting about K-pop.
Ms Ines Sela Melia, a 22-year-old final-year journalism student living in Jakarta, said she disagreed with political parties injecting K-pop nuance into Indonesian politics, considering Indonesia has a different culture from South Korea.
She told the Post that she would not let the presence of a K-pop idol at an event or the distribution of free tickets influence her vote in the upcoming election because neither of those activities addressed the countrys problems.
But she appreciated the originality of including K-pop in the political sphere.
Considering how popular K-pop has been recently, its easy to see how they (political parties) could have enticed new voters (this way), she said.
In the 2024 presidential election, millennials and Gen Z are projected to comprise 60 per cent of the voting population, per a study by think tank the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) written by Mr Arya Fernandes, Mr Edbert Gani Suryahudaya and Mr Noory Okthariza.
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Journalist student Ines further asserted that as a millennial, she was interested in the environmental issues surrounding the country, and she had been looking for political figures who were more relatable and humble for millennials.
I dont care about the entertainment stuff. I see there are still millennials who could relate more with politicians who often do blusukan (impromptu visits). Its better when they genuinely intend to do that, especially to engage with the community, she said.
Meanwhile, 23-year-old Putri Fahira Budiman added that involving K-poppers made political parties look desperate for more voters and followers from the younger audience.
I know its one of the political parties efforts to gain a mass (base), to win in elections, the Jakarta-based make-up artist, who is also a fan of South Korean boyband NCT, said.
She claimed to have joined a giveaway for a beauty product hosted by strictly entertainment accounts.
She would not, however, participate in giveaways, including for K-pop-related prizes, from political parties because it sounded like supporting a personal interest of the parties.
Ms Ines explained she would not change her opinion of a particular political party during the election due to K-pop branding by these parties.
She added that political parties should focus more on teaching the populace, for instance, by stressing the value of paying taxes rather than handing out free tickets.
Furthermore, he argued that some K-pop fans had voiced their political views.
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He took an example of fans disrupting US former president Donald Trumps campaign and illustrated how everyone in a democratic country has a different opinion.
Although K-pop is not always political, K-pop fans have effectively organised for political causes.
K-pop fans in 2020 took credit for driving up ticket demand for Mr Trumps event in Oklahoma, and then not turning up.
Moreover, a fan identified as Mr Uby admitted he was enjoying the engagement of the parties on social media.
While everyone has reasons for voting a certain way, its interesting to see how political parties like Gerindra utilize social media. I didnt find any particular cringe-worthy posts, Mr Uby said.
The Post asked PSIs DPP spokesman Zebi Magnolia, whether the organisation hoped to win over a younger audience by giving away free tickets to the Blackpink concert, she replied, PSI has no intention of politicising K-pop or (using it to) promote PSI as a political party.
In fact, Ms Zebi said, the idea of giving away free tickets came from the K-pop community members of the PSI itself.
She further shared that Blackpinks trip to Indonesia could increase fandom and solidarity.
Furthermore, Ms Zebi emphasised the importance of enabling less fortunate K-pop fans to fulfill their dreams of seeing their idols live by providing financial assistance to purchase concert tickets.
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The 22-year-old former idol declined to speak at length about the partys youth engagement strategy for 2024, suggesting, Just wait for it. Our programme is inspired by the dynamic cycle of humans.
More than social media Mr Beltsazar Krisetya, a digital politics expert and chief researcher at CSIS Indonesias Safer Internet Lab, said that politicians frequently used such strategies to rally support for important causes among the countrys young voters.
Mr Beltsazar predicted that youth voters will represent the majority in the next election (at least 60 per cent), highlighting that addressing the concerns and appealing to the interests of young people was a means of electoral success.
Mr Beltsazar stated that politicians were trying to foster homophilic environments to recruit more people from similar backgrounds.
As such, politicians were trying to appeal to a specific subset of voters by focusing on millennials.
Furthermore, he said, there was a widespread belief among Indonesians that young people were more interested in certain politicians rather than in any particular ideology or political party. As he put it, those excited or trying to appear approachable, ordinary or grounded would stand out.
Young voters engagement on social media is at its peak ... Thus, the impact of social media on the election will be deeper. One crucial finding of the CSIS research noted that those more engaged on social media tended to share more regularly about progressive issues such as climate change, Mr Beltsazar said.
CSIS found that 38.6 per cent of young people who used social media had a better understanding of climate issues than those who relies on traditional media (15.2 per cent).
Certainly, having a good social media presence is not enough. What is needed by the youths is trust in the democratic institution and agents, Mr Beltsazar said.
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Wednesday, March 22, 2023 at 4:14 am