Why is Indonesia so in love with the Blackberry?

BBC News, Dewi Safitri , BBC Indonesian Service

Some of Indonesia's three million Blackberry owners use their smartphones
to pass the time until they can break their Islamic Ramadan fast.

As the joke in Indonesia goes, if you don't have the right gadget you may end up a social outcast.

Undoubtedly, the gadget of the moment is the Blackberry smartphone.

A walk through a packed food court at lunchtime in Jakarta proves the point. Most patrons are glued to their smartphones, available in a myriad of colours but covered nonetheless in decorative cases.

Incessant message alerts reverberate around the food hall amid the clatter of cutlery.

Internet guru Onno Purbo believes Indonesian fans see the Blackberry as the trendier, flashier gadget.

Smartphone fever

But it is not just professionals like Purbo who are caught up in the hype. High school students like 14-year-old Haryo Suryo Susilo are also using them to stay in touch with their friends.

When Haryo meets us in a hotel lobby in Jogjakarta, he has been playing on his white smartphone for half an hour, ignoring the fruit platter in front of him.

A certain smartphone is also popular
with members of parliament

"I've only had it three months and I love it," he says. His visibly annoyed mother, Sari Susilo, says he spends all his time on his new device.

Haryo's mother is a smartphone user herself and it is clear his love for his prize piece of technology runs in the family. His father even uses two smartphones to keep his supermarket business running and stay in touch with his family.

But why smartphones, rather than mobile phones? Because they're so much cooler, says Sari.

This kind of smartphone fever means Research In Motion, Blackberry's Canadian developers, needs hardly any advertising to lure in new customers or impress Indonesia's estimated three million existing users.

Despite this, there are high-profile marketing campaigns, most notably featuring the president's daughter-in-law.

New freaks

Sources: BBC Indonesia Country Profile, Internet World Stats, Socialbakers, Penn Olson

Marketing analysts say it is word of mouth that drives smartphone sales in Indonesia but how this all began is a mystery.

The market leader's features are little different to those of other smartphones available, although users can message each other for free. Somehow this lifestyle product has gained cult status in Indonesia.

INDONESIA FACTS

• Population: 232 million
• Internet users: 30 million
• Facebook users: 37 million
• Twitter users: 5 million
• Blackberry users: 3 million

"We are a nation of consumers, always on the lookout for the latest trends," says Purbo.

Self-declared trendsetters like radio DJ Tommy Prabowo echo Purbo's views.

"When I first got a Blackberry in 2008, very few people in Jakarta used them.

"But now I've just got to have it - 99 per cent of people I know use one," he says.

Over the last two years, Prabowo has changed his smartphone four times to keep up with the latest trends.

The phenomenon is similar to the explosion of mobile phones in Indonesia less than a decade ago, making it one of the biggest mobile phone markets in the world.

"You were not cool unless you had the latest Nokia. We're heading in the same direction now," says Prabowo.

The DJ describes himself and his friends as 'new freaks'.

"Some people really don't know how to use any Blackberry features apart from its messaging service. It is new and hip, and that's it."

Online abuse

Prita Mulyasari was acquitted of
defamation after social media backing

The explosion of smartphone users seems to have coincided with a surge in social media enthusiasts.

According to the Internet World Stats website, since 2000 internet usage in Indonesia has grown by 1500 per cent.

Web statisticians Socialbakers estimate Indonesia has 37 million Facebook users, second only to the United States, while traffic counter comScore ranked Indonesia fourth in the world for Twitter reach.

The importance of social networking came to Indonesia's attention in 2009, when Prita Mulyasari, an Indonesian bank worker, was jailed for defamation after complaining about hospital treatment in an e-mail to friends.

Her supporters launched enormous Facebook and Twitter campaigns, sparking widespread national and international media coverage, and she was later acquitted of all charges.

More recently, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono used an address to the nation to denounce critics he claims are spreading lies and rumours about him using social media.

The president even cited Blackberry as a platform that can "improve life" but added that those who "use online media to assassinate character or abuse anyone are irresponsible, ignoble and cowardly.'

While US President Barack Obama may be known to be a long-time Blackberry addict, President Yudhoyono is surely the first head of state to mention its impact in an address to the nation.

The next big thing?

Google launched its Android mobile
operating system in Indonesia last year

Internet guru Purbo believes there are many Indonesians who use communication technology for more than just updating their social status.

"This is what needs to be nurtured and the government should have something to do with it," he says.

For years, the Indonesian government has been negotiating with Research In Motion over regulations that require the Canadian company to build a local server.

Purbo believes the government needs to be more pro-active in pushing Research In Motion to invest in Indonesia.

"Why stop at one server? It's a small piece of equipment and can be put anywhere. Why not ask them to build a factory here?

"Indonesian programmers should be getting involved and sharing some of the profit."

All this could change if Google's Android system, which Purbo describes as "the next big thing" takes over the market.

Android smartphones are yet to win over the Indonesian consumer.

Purbo believes this is because they are largely manufactured in Asia, so are unappealing to Indonesians craving American or European goods.

But with millions of Blackberry users putting pressure on mobile networks, Indonesian providers are having a hard time supplying a reliable service.

"I ditched my Blackberry long ago and use the Android system now, " laughs Purbo.

"It's cheap and made in China."

DJ Prabowo is also keeping a close eye the Android system.

"Some of my friends are using Android already. Others might soon have to catch up," he says with a knowing grin.

Whatever the future holds for smartphone fans in Indonesia, it is clear this is one trendsetter who won't be ending up a social outcast.

Related Article:

'Facebook Became the New Town Hall and Twitter the Fastest Media'

@america: Cultural outreach to young foreigners

San Francisco Chronicle, Norimitsu Onishi, New York Times, Sunday, March 6, 2011

Go US: A visitor registers at @america , a hi-tech cultural center|
intended to enable Indonesians to interact with that country on their
own terms. JP/Ricky Yudhistira

PST Jakarta, Indonesia -- On the third floor of a shopping mall, around the corner from a Gap Kids and a Wedgwood china outlet, a new tenant is busily promoting what is perhaps the world's biggest brand: America.

The tenant, called @america, represents the U.S. government's first attempt at creating a full-fledged cultural center since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. A high-tech, interactive operation heralded as the digital-age successor to the venerable American Cultural Center, it is also U.S. public diplomacy's latest effort to win over young foreigners, especially in Muslim countries.

Thousands of high school and college students have been bused in from schools in Jakarta, the capital, and its outskirts since @america's opening in December. The technology on display - a giant, supercharged version of Google Earth called Liquid Galaxy, scores of iPads that are available to test, interactive monitors explaining Black History Month - thrilled the teenagers.

It was unclear whether the center had changed their perceptions of the United States, though.

Tech savvy: Young visitors browse
through their e-guides at the @america
center. JP/Ricky Yudhistira

"It doesn't matter what they think of the United States - 'Do you hate us? Do you love us? Are you somewhere in between?' " said Matt McGowan, 36, an American whose company, PT Ganesha Aggies Jaya, has been contracted to run the center.

The State Department's undersecretary for public diplomacy, Judith McHale, described @america as the "first of a new generation of American cultural centers."

Eva Zahrowati, 34, an English teacher at Islamic Senior High School No. 4, said her students had picked up bits of U.S. history during their visit.

She added, however, that the center's location - in one of Jakarta's most tightly guarded malls - created "obstacles" for Indonesians like her students. Visitors must undergo body scans and deposit their bags between two doors to enter @america, and the heavy security had left a bad taste.

"Is America afraid of us?" Zahrowati said.

The technology used by @america impressed Annisa Mutiara, 16, who said her dream was to go to a U.S. university. But Annisa was not swayed by what she assumed was the motivation behind the invitation to her school.

"I believe that America hates Muslims, and I'm a Muslim," she said. "I still believe that after coming here."

@america

Pacific Place Mall 3rd floor #325

Jl. Jendral Sudirman Kav.52-53

Kebayoran Baru, Central Jakarta, 12190

Related Articles:

Hi-tech the @America way

Experience America at the @america center in Pacific Place Mall, Jakarta, Indonesia

Jakarta US embassy asks for $100,000 for its Facebook page: Wikileaks

Guardian, 18 Jan, 2011

The US embassy in Jakarta made a request for $100,000 in funding to boost its Facebook fans to one million weeks before Barack Obama's visit to Indonesia.

A cable sent in February by US diplomats in the Indonesian capital described itself as "already the leading US Mission in the World on Facebook with nearly 50,000 'fans', and one of the leading missions using Twitter, YouTube and engaging local bloggers to promote USG [US government] messages and information."

"We are uniquely positioned to use these tools to amplify key topics and themes to support the upcoming visit by President Obama," it added. The embassy described itself in the cable as "on the forefront of Public Diplomacy 2.0."

Requesting the $100,0000, the cable said that the embassy could boost its Facebook fan page membership to one million in 30 days in a country it described as one of the fastest-growing Facebook markets in the world.

But it is unclear if it reached the target – with or without the money.

By April last year, the total number of Facebook fans of the US Embassies and consulates in Indonesia was 161,000, according to an interview given by the embassy team behind the page.

The cable set out how the money was to be spent, including increasing advertising on Indonesian online portals and elsewhere, as well as generating interest in the presidential visit by offering Facebook users the chance to win a "golden ticket" to meet Obama:

"If the White House approves, we could invite fans to post why they should meet President Obama, and in doing so, use our social media platform to connect fans to the visit, as well as build excitement beforehand and follow-up coverage afterwards"

The embassy's suggestion that it should also team up with a television show subsequently came to fruition. On a national television show, three Facebook fans of the Jakarta embassy won "educational trips" to the US to visit places that were said to have played a part in Obama's life – this was the embassy's suggested alternative prize if the White House did not give its blessing to meetings with Obama for competition winners.

Related Article:

'Facebook Became the New Town Hall and Twitter the Fastest Media'

The Jakarta Globe's Ten Most Popular Stories in 2010

Jakarta Globe | December 23, 2010

West Java teenagers Sinta and Jojo gained online
popularity after their lip-sync video became a hit.

As the year 2010 comes to an end, here are the 10 most popular stories from the last 12 months on the Jakarta Globe's Web site.

Many bizarre, shocking and absurd things happened throughout the year, from former Peterpan frontman Ariel's sex videos to Indonesia's own Youtube sensations Sinta and Jojo with their virally popular rendition of the dangdut song “Keong Racun” (“Poisonous Snail”).

Here is the list:

1. Celebrities Luna Maya, Ariel Implicated in Latest Sex Tape Scandal
   
   
2. Teenager Passes Out Marrying Cow He Had Sex With
   
   
3. Indoleaks Touts Revealing WikiLeaks Documents, But Technical Problems Persist
   
   
4. Luna Maya, Ariel Get Indecent Proposal; Cut Tari Denies Nude Woman is Her
   
   
5. Luna Maya Fails to Front Dahsyat After Sex Video Emerges
   
   
6. Sinta and Jojo's 'Keong Racun' a Certified YouTube Hit
   
   
7. The Rise of Indonesian Atheism
   
   
8. Latest Sex Video Purports to Feature Cut Tari
   
   
9. Journalists Disappointed With Limited Obama Media Conference
   
   
10. If US Could Create 'Avatar,' It Could Fake 9/11 Attacks: Mahathir

Related Articles:

Gayus, Bank Century, most popular issues in 2010

2010’s Weirdest News Stories

Internet Savvy Indonesian Cleric Embraces New Media for Old Debates

Jakarta Globe, December 17, 2010

In a picture taken on December 15, 2010 Ahmad Mustofa Bisri, also known as Gus Mus and Kyai Gaul on Twitter, an influential Muslim cleric and a respected figure from the country's biggest Islamic organisation, the moderate Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), shows an Islamic application in his iPad in Jakarta. Bisri is among a number of Islamic leaders -- conservative and liberal -- who are turning to the Internet in the struggle for the hearts and minds of the faithful in the world's largest Muslim-majority country. (AFP Photo/Bay Ismoyo)

To most Indonesians, Ahmad Mustofa Bisri is an influential Muslim cleric and a respected figure from the country's biggest Islamic organization, the moderate Nahdlatul Ulama.

But to his 7,000-odd followers on Twitter, the 66-year-old is "Kyai Gaul", or the Trendy Cleric, who thumbs daily Islamic greetings on his iPad and Blackberry.

Bisri is among a number of Islamic leaders -- conservative and liberal -- who are turning to the Internet in the struggle for the hearts and minds of the faithful in the world's largest Muslim-majority country.

"I set up an account last month because I like to make friends with everyone. I don't position myself as a mufti, a religious authority. I only share what I know," said Bisri, who is better known as Gus Mus or "Brother Mus" -- short for Mustofa.

"It's important for those who understand the faith to spread the word. Those who don't know, but say they do, may mislead," he added.

Besides microblogging site Twitter, he has been preaching religious tolerance and moderation on social networking site Facebook, where he has 2,600 "friends" and 62,000 "fans".

Islamists from hardline groups like Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia and the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) also have a Web presence, using the modern medium to advocate ancient capital punishments like stoning for adulterers.

The battle for Indonesia's Islamic identity is just one way the Internet is shaping and transforming public debate in the country of 240 million people, where Web usage has exploded in the past five years.

With its booming economy and burgeoning middle class, the archipelago has rapidly become one of the world's biggest Twitter users, according to online research firm comScore.

Of 41 countries surveyed, it had the highest percentage of Internet users at home and work accessing Twitter in June 2010, or more than 20 percent of its 45 million people online, comScore said.

No one who wants to be anyone -- not even the stick-wielding, fringe-dwelling religious fanatics of the FPI -- can afford not to have a Twitter account and a Facebook page in Indonesia.

And almost inevitably in a country as diverse as Indonesia, questions of faith consistently top the list of trending topics of debate.

Twitter "wars" are being waged on a daily basis between liberals who promote pluralism and religious tolerance, and conservatives who advocate a stern interpretation of Islam and strict moral values.

Some of the old elite are uncomfortable in the brave new world of instant communication and user-generated content.

Scandalised by the release online of a local rock star's homemade sex videos earlier this year, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warned that the Internet "frenzy" was a threat to the nation's moral fibre.

But blogger Purwaka, known online as Blontank Poer, says the more open flow of information and opinion is good for a country that emerged from the tight grip of military strongman Suharto only in 1998.

"Twitter wars are good wars," the 42-year-old said.

"The winner is the public. They gain a better understanding of Islam and can make their own conclusion after hearing different opinions from experts on the faith," he added.

From homosexuality to atheism and the treatment of minorities, Indonesians are finding they can talk about subjects online which they would be reluctant to discuss in their offices, classrooms and around their kitchen tables.

Communications Minister Tifatul Sembiring, a conservative Muslim, is one of the nation's most prolific and controversial Tweeters and boasts 120,000 "followers" -- or other users who subscribe to his comment stream.

He drew international ridicule with a post describing how, as a pious Muslim, he had reluctantly shaken hands with US First Lady Michelle Obama at a state reception in Jakarta last month.

One of his critics, liberal Muslim scholar Ulil Abshar Abdalla, Tweeted to his 35,000 followers: "Enough, enough, from now on, shaking hands with non-mahrams (those unrelated by marriage) is allowed."

"It's halal (permissible) if it's the level of Michelle Obama," he added.

Gus Mus advised the minister to "calm down" and put his beliefs in perspective.

"Calm down, sir. God is too BIG to supervise your handshaking with Mrs. Michelle," he commented.

Sembiring later clarified his position in a series of Tweets, which only generated more howls of embarrassment from his liberal opponents.

"I'm fine as long as there's an open debate and people convey their messages politely, without curses and insults," the minister told AFP.

"I'll usually talk to them but if they continue insulting me and refuse to act in a civilised manner, after two to three times, I'll block them."

IT researcher and free-speech advocate Donny Budi Utoyo said that while Muslim leaders had different views, those engaged in social networks shared an ability to cope with criticism and the cut and thrust of the new media.

"Both the liberal and conservative leaders who have joined Twitter so far seem to be open people who know how to smile. If they're attacked, they respond in a positive manner," he said.

"This reflects the maturity of mind that is needed for any process of dialogue to be effective." 

Agence-France Presse

Internet fever

The Jakarta Post, Antara, Bojonegoro. East Java | Fri, 11/26/2010

A young mother with child on her lap browse the internet in the front of the Bojonegoro Regency office, East Java, on Friday. The internet era has apparently managed to catch everyone's attention right now from those who live in big cities to those in regencies.

Celeb sex videos reveal hypocrisy in society: Legislator

Hans David Tampubolon, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 06/16/2010 12:22 PM

Golkar Party legislator Tantowi Yahya says that the public fiasco caused by sex videos allegedly involving Ariel Peterpan, Luna Maya and Cut Tari has shown the true colors of the Indonesian society, and that is filled with hypocrisy.

"We condemn them for breaking our norms, yet at the same time we also enjoy the videos," Tantowi said at the House of Representatives in Jakarta on Wednesday.

"The proof that we also enjoy the videos is evident in the fact that the DVDs can be easily bought in Glodok," he said, referring to busy shopping mall in downtown Jakarta.

The alleged sex videos of Ariel, Luna and Cut Tari have become a major controversy in recent weeks, not only in a local scale but global one as well.

International porn stars who have watched the video have publicly stated their interests to work with Ariel, Luna and Cut Tari in future projects if they are indeed the ones starring in the video.