Indonesia: Online Nationalism

Last Friday's dual blasts marked the end of six years of a peaceful and sound Indonesia. As the nation condemns the terror attacks, Indonesian youths  show the spirit of  nationalism online.

Many Indonesians are sending tweets like “We're not afraid” motto through #indonesiaunite, something that people wouldn't dare say bluntly, especially right after bombing incidents a few years ago. Thanks to microblogging sites, Indonesian youths are able to get out of their fear shells and express themselves and their opinion.

Pitra Satvika said:

Secara spontan, banyak pengguna Twitter, yang lalu diikuti pengguna Plurk dan Facebook, yang mengganti avatar mereka dengan bendera Merah Putih. Hashtag #indonesiaunite menjadi topik tren di Twitter (bahkan hingga saat ini ditulis).

[…]

Lalu apakah pernyataan moral melalui ranah social media ini bermanfaat? Jelas!!

Pertama, kita sebagai warga yang aktif di ranah daring bisa menunjukkan diri di hadapan dunia, kalau kita menolak aksi terorisme. Bahkan kita tidak akan takut terhadap mereka. Upaya para teroris yang (dari namanya saja sudah ketahuan) untuk menanamkan rasa teror di masyarakat sudah tidak mempan. Kita bisa menunjukkan kepada mereka kalau usaha mereka menakut-nakuti kita dan membuat kita lemah di mata dunia tidak mempan.

Kedua, masyarakat dunia tahu akan sikap perlawanan moral kita. Mereka bisa melihatnya melalui tren yang terjadi di Twitter dan Facebook Page. Mudah-mudahan dengan cara ini pula, akan membuat mereka tidak takut untuk datang ke negeri kita. Mereka juga tidak lalu asal mengecap negeri kita sebagai sarang terorisme. Untuk membantu mereka memahami, cobalah sesekali membuat tulisan dalam bahasa Inggris, agar mereka paham perlawanan kita dan sikap kita yang tidak takut akan terorisme.

Mudah-mudahan Indonesia Unite ini bisa benar-benar mempersatukan, setidaknya kalangan masyarakat daring. Mudah-mudahan juga para pemimpin kita tidak lagi berdebat dan beragumen tidak mutu, dan mengambil contoh kita. Kalau kita yang rakyatnya saja bisa bersatu dalam satu suara perlawanan, mengapa pemimpinnya tidak?

Spontaneously, many twitterers, followed by users of Plurk and Facebook modified their avatars and used the national red and white flag. Hashtag #indonesiaunite has become the most active trending on local Twitter (even as this article is being written).

[…]

Does this morale statement through social media has any influence? Of course!!

First of all, we as online citizens show ourselves in front of the international world, that we're against acts of terrorism. We won't be afraid of them. The work of the terrorist which  (even from how they're called, we know what they're up about) to plant terror in our society is no longer effective. We can show them that their efforts to scare us and make us look vulnerable in front of the international world aren't effective.

Second, the international world will know about our fight. They can see it through trendings on Twitter and Facebook Page. Hopefully through these ways, (foreigners) won't be afraid to come to our country. They won't label  our country as terrorist's lair. To help them understand, try to post in English, so they'll learn about our fight and our stance against terrorism.

Hopefully Indonesia United (movement) will really unite us, at least the online citizens. Hopefully our leaders will stop issuing pointless debates and arguments, and take our example. If the people can unite  in one voice against this, why can't the leaders do the same thing?

Pandji and his peeps from the Jakarta Twitter User Group,  posted a song on Youtube called “Kami Tidak Takut” (we're not afraid).

On his Facebook's note, Timotius Christian said that there's even more reason to fight the act of terrorism which is no different with an act of cowardice.

Rasanya tak pernah saya mendengar seorang garong yang menggarong rumahnya sendiri. Tapi telah menjadi sebuah deviasi ketika pengebom membom negerinya sendiri.

[…] Di tanah Palestina, setelah sebuah bom meledak, akan ada pihak yang secara terbuka dan terus terang mengaku bertanggung jawab atas meledaknya bom di titik A pada jam sekian. Di sini? Harus diburu terlebih dahulu. Setelah tertangkap, apakah langsung mengakuinya? Atau malah melemparkan kesalahan ke Pencipta, yang diklaim sebagai yang menyuruhnya meledakkan bom tersebut dengan alasan ini dan itu?

Kalau memang membenci suatu negara asing tertentu, pergilah ke sana dan ledakkan di sana pula. Jangan di negeri ini. Jangan di negara sendiri. Hanya akan mencucurkan darah sesama anak bangsa. Lalu, apakah dengan demikian tercapai tujuan peledakan yang diinginkan?

I don't think that I've ever heard a robber robbing his own house. But the statement becomes deviated once (we replace robber into) a bomber who bombed his own country.

[…] In the land of the Palestinians, after a bomb exploded, there'll be a party who openly claim responsible of an explosion of a certain bomb which happened in location ‘A’ at a certain hour. While here, the (culprits) need to be pursued first, and do they admit their doing? Or blame the (Almighty) Creator, who send them to do what they did for such and such reasons?

If  they trully hate a certain country, go there and (try) blow things there. Not in this land. Not in this country. They'll only shed the blood of their fellow countrymen. So, is that trully the whole point of the act?

Indonesian twitterers in support of this cause also share IndonesiaUnite twibbon.

2 comments

Join the conversation

Authors, please log in »

Guidelines

  • All comments are reviewed by a moderator. Do not submit your comment more than once or it may be identified as spam.
  • Please treat others with respect. Comments containing hate speech, obscenity, and personal attacks will not be approved.