Jakarta's Social Media Week Ends With Calls for 'Shared Responsibility'
Jakarta. The Social Media Week event in Jakarta on Nov. 11-15 attracted 11,000 visitors to Senayan City in South Jakarta, who attended lectures and discussions featuring hundreds of speakers who egged them on to create positively impactful online stories.
The festival's official theme was "Stories: With Great Influence Comes Great Responsibility". A total of 181 speakers shared tips on using social media for a good cause, identifying hoaxes and promoting brands using influencers.
"We hope the public can become more aware that they have a responsibility to share positive content. Social media is our shared responsibility," SMW Chairman and Merah Cipta Media chief executive Anthony Liem said.
Twitter Indonesia's country head, Dwi Adriansah, spoke about how stories on Twitter could bring attention to social injustice. As an example, he mentioned Nike's ad campaign featuring the NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who was famous for sitting down during the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" as a protest against the oppression of black people and people of colour.
Meanwhile, Narasi TV co-founder and famous TV host Najwa Shihab shared her tips on being an influencer on social media.
"Anyone has the ability to influence others – be it through your own personal stories or the stories of others that people find interesting. But since too many people speak at the same time on social media, it can be difficult to differentiate between facts and opinions. So if you have a platform to influence others, do it sensibly, responsibly and by speaking the truth," Najwa said on Thursday.
The event also featured speakers from two social media platforms that millennials currently go gaga for – 9GAG and TikTok.
9GAG's social media head Karen Cheng stressed the importance of understanding your audience to stay relevant in the industry.
Meanwhile, TikTok Indonesia's marketing head Dina Bhirawa and public policy head Donny Eryastha argued that short-duration videos accompanied by catchy music and exaggerated lipsyncing – uploaded in spades by users on TikTok – had redefined fun for social media.
The event also presented awards to brands based on their activities on social media. The Most Socially Devoted Brand awards went to Telkomsel's campaign on Facebook and Telkom Care's campaign on Twitter. The Most Engaging Brand awards went to Smartfren's campaign on Facebook, Shopee for Men's campaign on Instagram, Grab Indonesia's campaign on Twitter and Samsung Indonesia's campaign on YouTube.