CHARISMA AND SOCIAL MEDIA IN INDONESIAN POLITICS

Abstract

The ability to exploit social media to develop political charisma has become essential for aspiring Indonesian politicians. Social media is even more crucial for those who competes in urban areas, where its citizens has better access on digital technology. Nevertheless, despite the entanglement, study on the function of social media to develop political charisma is still relatively nascent. In this regards, the article explores the way politicians employ social media to get and maintain their power. How do social media affordances enabled politicians to manufacture political charisma? To what extent, political charisma developed on social media enabled politicians to influence their followers? To answer these problem, the article draws from the political trajectory of Ridwan Kamil, Governor of West Java, whose political persona relies heavily on his personal use of social media. Based on digital observation and several in-depth interviews, the article proposes three arguments: First, social media affordances enabled politician to construct political charisma based on multiple representations within a short period of time. Second, the infrastructure of social media has reinforced the blurry lines between personal and public matters in politics. Third, the influence of charisma developed through social media is constrained by social and political contexts.