TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Executive Director of Indonesia New Media Watch Agus Sudibyo stated that social media hashtags containing political messages will not have a massive effect towards voters` decision making, especially millennials, in the wake of the 2019 presidential election.

“Uncertain voters in average consist of rational voters,” said Agus Sudibyo at Tjikini Lima, Central Jakarta today, Sept. 12.

Meanwhile, the millennials are considered to be a critical group of people that will decide only after exposing themselves to loads of references.

Agus said that hashtags will only create a more unbearable campaign atmosphere in the cyber world. He personally does not worry about the possibility of feuds through hashtags from incumbent candidate pair Joko “Jokowi” Widodo-Ma’aruf Amin or even from opposition Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno.

He further argues that undecided voters and millennials mostly consist of people that will expose themselves to numerous references upon presidential hopefuls from news media, social media, television, newspapers, and online news portals. This demographic is said to vote based on facts from news media.

However, he maintained that this does not mean that undecided voters’ decisions are unable to be affected. Agus said that this demographic is able to be influenced through issues regarding primordial sentiments such as what happened during the US presidential election when Hillary Clinton faced Donald Trump and the past Jakarta Gubernatorial Election.

FRANCISCA CHRISTY ROSANA