Jokowi Uses 'Vlogs' to Draw Youth Participation in Gov't Programs
Jakarta. President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is gaining traction among Indonesia's youth through his use of video blogging, or "vlogs," as a means to draw more political participation from the public.
"Social media provides efficiency in promoting [government programs]. As a result, I use vlogs as a platform to inform the public about government programs," Jokowi said in Purwakarta, West Java, on Tuesday (25/04), as quoted by state-run news agency Antara.
Lately, Jokowi has been vlogging and conducting online discussions with some of the country's interested youth to keep the public abreast of government programs.
Presidential press bureau chief Bey Machmudin said Jokowi's vlogs about national issues are not limited to just the youth audience.
"Indonesians deserve to know, take part in and monitor our ongoing programs," Bey said. "Younger generations must also understand what's going on."
However, Jokowi highlighted the importance of reaching out to younger audiences.
"This platform is crucial for us in informing the public about previous and ongoing government programs," he said. "This type of method is effective to connect with young people."
One recent presidential vlog featured construction workers building the Dam Sei Gong in Batam, Riau Islands, which Jokowi posted on March 31.
"I sometimes post vlogs spontaneously when I visit work sites or other projects," Jokowi said. "I visited the Dam Sei Gong in Riau [Islands] and I found there were so many construction workers on site [...] some of whom were from Medan [North Sumatra], Tanjung Pinang [Riau Islands], Balikpapan [East Kalimantan], Makassar [South Sulawesi], East Nusa Tenggara and so on."
"To discover workers from all over the archipelago employed for a single project in Batam [...] it really goes to show, more development projects translates to more jobs, for Indonesians everywhere."
In March, the president live-vlogged with Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud at Bogor Palace in West Java, during the latter's state visit to Indonesia.
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