The surprising yet efficient approach of Anies Baswedan on TikTok by diving into several live-broadcasts has become head-to-toe momentum for almost all the Gen-Z. The Election Winning Team for candidate pair Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar (Team AMIN) says that the lively reaction of netizens to Anies, who has recently been live streaming on TikTok, is a natural occurrence.
Captain of Team AMIN, M. Syaugi Alaydrus, mentioned that this phenomenon is attributed to the active role of Generation Z in using the social media platform. “You can see that it’s Gen Z playing there. Mr. Anies is natural. He may not be advanced on TikTok, but Mr. Anies understands its elements,” he told reporters in Bangka Street, South Jakarta, on Wednesday.
Syaugi admitted that the number 1 presidential candidate deliberately tried to enter TikTok with the primary goal of embracing various parties. “So he’s trying to get into TikTok. That’s it, everyone will be embraced by Mr. Anies. Hopefully, everyone follows Mr. Anies,” he added.
Anies is considered finding a way to attract the younger generation on TikTok by frequently appearing on live streaming. Anies’s TikTok live streaming is reported to reach 300,000 to 400,000 viewers in one live session. Anies answers all questions from TikTok netizens on any topic, whether serious or light. Several individuals, such as political analyst Rocky Gerung, even congratulated Anies, considering that he found a new formula to counter the “gemoy” image built by Prabowo Subianto before.
Speaking of social media approaches, ironically on the other hand, some political observers believe that several factors influence Prabowo’s popularity among Gen Z for his cuteness. Among them are his personality and changing and more “embracing” approach to the younger generation. One of them is through social media.
In addition, Gen Z voters are those who have never experienced the transition from the New Order era to the Reform era in 1998, an era where Prabowo’s human rights record has long been questioned due to his alleged involvement in the disappearance of activists, said observers. Indikator Politik researcher, Bawono Kumoro, and political observer from Gadjah Mada University (UGM), Mada Sukmajati, said that human rights violation issues may not necessarily be the main consideration in determining the choices of Gen Z voters, who are said to consider economic issues more. “Even for those who experienced the ’98 reformasi, human rights issues may not be considered important, let alone by Gen Z who did not experience it. How can they have awareness and make this issue a primary consideration in choosing,” said Bawono to BBC News Indonesia.
Quite long before Anies, then Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo frequently appeared on the social media, sharing information or ideas to the people of Central Java. Ganjar, who is running for presidency along with Mahfud MD, claimed that he doesn’t mind being called someone who only plays on social media. He said that his active social media posting is a form of accountability as a public official.
“Why I turn on my YouTube, actually for education, you can watch it if you want, it doesn’t matter. I have no problem, but I, as a public official, must have public accountability. I have to do something, I have to multi-do something, and I do it on all media I have. So then I put it in there,” said Ganjar in a 2021 webinar on ‘Communication Strategies for the President and Regional Heads in Handling the COVID-19 Pandemic’s.
