Continued...
Amidst the continuously evolving
ICT, one of the highlights of this cutting-edge technology is the development
of social media. Being recognized as ubiquitous software connecting social
actors to interact in public spheres, social media outlets have been the
darlings of information and communication technology thus far. Also commonly
known as social network sites or technologies, social media can also be
described as “web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a
public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of
other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their
list of connections and those made by others within the system.”[5]
Two phenomenally popular social media outlets examples here are Facebook and Twitter.
Twitter, on the other hand, is a
micro-blogging site which allows users to post comments, status, information
and any text-based content not more than 140 characters, or widely known as
“tweet”. Surprisingly, a wide variety of information has been broadcasted
through Twitter, which also include links to articles, photos, pictures, videos
and audio streams.Tweets are immediately visible to “followers”, those who have
registered and requested to follow certain user(s). Unlike Facebook and its
circles of “friends”, Twitter users can follow any other user and most tweets
are available for public. Of course, all users have the choices to unfollow or
block other users from getting access to the feed, giving them the power to
control their audiences.
Other interesting features in
Twitter are the “retweet” and “quote tweet” functions, permitting users to
easily and expeditiously distribute any information to the world-wide audience.
“Hashtags”, another unique facet of Twitter, allow users to search for trending
topics as tweets are organized on certain topic.[10]
For example, #Indonesia will make people find tweets on that topic easily.
Until recently, from the top 10
countries with the most Twitter accounts list, United States stays at number 1,
with recorded 141.8 million accounts. Brazil follows on the second spot, with
41.2 million accounts, and Japan at number three with 35 million accounts.32.2
million accounts, while Indonesia stays at number 5 with 29.4 million accounts.[11]
In terms of active Twitter users, surprisingly, China champions the list with
approximately 33.5 million active users, despite the fact that the Chinese
Government blocks this service.[12]
As noticeably showcased in the
Arab Spring phenomenon where the term “Twitter Revolution” was ubiquitously
coined, this site is now deemed as one of the extremely influential sources of
real-time news.[14]
[11]Twitter reaches half a billion accounts, More than
140 millions in the U.S., (Accessed November 2, 2012),in http://semiocast.com/publications/2012_07_30_Twitter_reaches_half_a_billion_accounts_140m_in_the_US
A. The Magic of Internet with
its Phenomenal Facebook and Twitter
Perhaps, for many of us, watching a real-time show or
event happens in one place while being separately thousands of miles away, was
nothing out of ordinary. Thanks to the Internet, or some might generally refer
as information and communication technology (ICT), one-third of the world’s
populations is now able to enjoy this privilege.
Since being introduced in, arguably, 1974,[1]
the internet has brought many significant changes to the world. Those changes,
both positive and negative, range from simple connections with family and
friends to revolutionary movements that change the life of nations, from online
shopping to cybercrime. The rapid development of ICT has enabled people to
better connect and communicate with one another, regardless of time difference
and geographical locations. Information is abundant and easy to access,
providing more exposure on myriads of issues around the globe for everyone. Indeed,
various developments in political, economic, social and cultural areas have
taken place with the help of Internet
Until June 2012, approximately 2.4 billion people around
the globe are registered as internet active users, posing Asia on top of the
list based on the distribution of the world regions with 44.8% coverage.[2]
Compared to 10 years ago, internet users continue to enjoy exponential growth
in terms of numbers, especially since internet mobile services conquer the
market.
Indonesia, on its part, is certainly part of the top 20
countries with the highest number of internet users. As Internet initially
introduced in the 1990s in Indonesia,[1]
this country is now positioned at number 8, contributing 2.3% of the total
world’s internet population amounting 55.000.000 people. From the same list,
the only ASEAN member country which makes the top 20 is the Philippines, with
approximately 33.6 million people using internet actively.[2]
Another crucial development
here is the robust usage of mobile social media, which refer to the same social
media applications traditionally running on computers or laptops, but used on
mobile devices. Along with almost 6 billion mobile-cellular subscriptions and
1.2 billion active mobile-broadband subscriptions,[3]
the use of mobile social media is exponentially increasing.[4]
Amidst the continuously evolving
ICT, one of the highlights of this cutting-edge technology is the development
of social media. Being recognized as ubiquitous software connecting social
actors to interact in public spheres, social media outlets have been the
darlings of information and communication technology thus far. Also commonly
known as social network sites or technologies, social media can also be
described as “web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a
public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of
other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their
list of connections and those made by others within the system.”[5]
Two phenomenally popular social media outlets examples here are Facebook and Twitter.
As registered Facebook
members, users can create profile page and share information with unlimited
number of other users or virtual ‘friends’. Although ‘friends’ are usually
those known by the users in real life and thus invited and/or added to the
friends’ list, some users choose to approve without having the ‘real’
connections in order to expand their circles of friends. Another choice of
expanding the network in this site is by creating pages which can catch the
attention of unlimited ‘fans’, users who are interested to the content but not
necessarily have to be friends or approve friends’ invitations. Privacy
settings are also available, putting the control in the hands of its users.[6]
Users are able to create a specific page and now, Facebook has ‘sponsor’
service where users can sponsor or advertise particular event or product with
as cheap as 50 cent USD per item.
Until recently,
the United States is still the home of most active Facebook users, with close
to 156 million active users, or approximately 65% of Facebook’s entire global
audience. Brazil is now Facebook Nation No.2, while India rank at number 3.[7]
Indonesia is undoubtedly
experiencing social media ‘booming’ since the advance development of ICT has
enabled wider constituents to have access to the internet. Coupled with the
overall progress in economy, more Indonesians now have computers, laptops,
tablets, smart phones and similar devices, with internet connection.No wonder
Indonesia now ranks number four as the world most active Facebook, listing 49,884,160
users.[8]
At this juncture, Facebook, which is
available in 70 languages, has reached 1 billion active users by September 14,
2012[9].
Twitter, on the other hand, is a
micro-blogging site which allows users to post comments, status, information
and any text-based content not more than 140 characters, or widely known as
“tweet”. Surprisingly, a wide variety of information has been broadcasted
through Twitter, which also include links to articles, photos, pictures, videos
and audio streams.Tweets are immediately visible to “followers”, those who have
registered and requested to follow certain user(s). Unlike Facebook and its
circles of “friends”, Twitter users can follow any other user and most tweets
are available for public. Of course, all users have the choices to unfollow or
block other users from getting access to the feed, giving them the power to
control their audiences.
Other interesting features in
Twitter are the “retweet” and “quote tweet” functions, permitting users to
easily and expeditiously distribute any information to the world-wide audience.
“Hashtags”, another unique facet of Twitter, allow users to search for trending
topics as tweets are organized on certain topic.[10]
For example, #Indonesia will make people find tweets on that topic easily.
Until recently, from the top 10
countries with the most Twitter accounts list, United States stays at number 1,
with recorded 141.8 million accounts. Brazil follows on the second spot, with
41.2 million accounts, and Japan at number three with 35 million accounts.32.2
million accounts, while Indonesia stays at number 5 with 29.4 million accounts.[11]
In terms of active Twitter users, surprisingly, China champions the list with
approximately 33.5 million active users, despite the fact that the Chinese
Government blocks this service.[12]
Indonesia ranks number five
in the world, contributing 15% of the overall tweets. It was estimated that 3.8
million Indonesians, particularly Jakartans, are actively tweeting and posting
approximately 53.880 tweets per hour. Unsurprisingly, Jakarta is the most
active city where tweets were posted, surpassing Tokyo, London, Sao Paolo and
even New York, respectively. Meanwhile, Bandung stays at number six on the
list.[13]
As noticeably showcased in the
Arab Spring phenomenon where the term “Twitter Revolution” was ubiquitously
coined, this site is now deemed as one of the extremely influential sources of
real-time news.[14]
[1] David T. Hill and KhrisnaSen, “The Internet in Indonesia’s New
Democracy”, Democratization Vol 7
(1), 2000, pp. 119 – 136,(Accessed 18 October 2102) in http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13510340008403648#preview.
[2]The top 10 countries in the list
of top 20 countries comprises China at number 1, with approximately 538,000,000 users ; 2. United States with 245,203,319 users ; 3. India,
with 137,000,000 users; 4.
Japan, with 101,228,736 users ;
5. Brazil, with 87,276,099 users
; 6. Russia, with 67,982,547 users ; 7. Germany, with 67,483,860 users; 8.Indonesia, with 55,000,000 users; 9.United Kingdom with 52,731,209
users ; and 10. France, with 52,228,905
users . (Accessed 28 October 2012) In http://www.itu.int.
[3] From the World in 2011 – ICT Facts and Figures (International
Telecommunication Union, 2011), it is estimated that out of 7 billion global
population, one-third is online already. Developing countries, led by China and
India, are now contributing approximately 62% of the world’s total number of
internet users. Mobile-cellular subscriptions also enjoy a stable increase
where in 2011, 5.9 billion people have subscribed to mobile-cellular accounts.
Meanwhile, mobile-broadband subscriptions have grown 45% annually in the course of recent four years.
In 2011, active mobile-broadband subscriptions have reached almost 1.2 billion,
which is twice as many as fixed-broadband subscriptions which cover 600 million
households worldwide.
[4]International Telecommunication Union, ibid.
[5]Danah M. Boyd and Nicole B. Elisson, Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship. Journal
of Computer-Mediated Communication Vol. 13(2008) pp. 210 – 230, (Accessed 5
October 2012) in http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/
boyd.ellison.html.
[6] Sarah Joseph, “Social Media,
Political Change, and Human Rights,”35
B.C. Int”l& Comp. L. Rev. 145 (2012), in http//lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/iclr/vol35/iss1/3.
[7] According to www.checkfacebook.com, as of June 2012, real-time rankings for countries with the most active
Facebook are as follows: 1. United States, with 168,642,820
users;2.Brazil, with 61,813,580 users; 3. India, with 60,600,520 users; 4. Indonesia,
with 49,844,160 users; 5.Mexico, with 39,583,000 users;6.United Kingdom,
with 33,785, 600 users; 7. Turkey, with 31,822,360 users;8.Philippines, with 29,877,060
users; 9.France, with 25,286,560
users; and 10.Germany, with 25,189,320 users.
[9] “Facebook Tops Billion-User Mark”, the Wall Street Journal (Dow
Jones), (Accessed October 4 2012), in http://online.wsj.com/article/
SB10000872396390443635404578036164027386112.html
[10]Sarah Joseph, Ibid.
[11]Twitter reaches half a billion accounts, More than
140 millions in the U.S., (Accessed November 2, 2012),in http://semiocast.com/publications/2012_07_30_Twitter_reaches_half_a_billion_accounts_140m_in_the_US
[12]Shea
Bennet, REVEALED: The 10 Countries With The
Most Active Twitter Users, 24 September 2012, (Accessed
1 November 2012), in http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/twitter-countries-active-users_b28908
[13]Shea
Bennet, ibid.
[14] Blake Hounshell, The Revolution Will be Tweeted, Foreign
Policy, July 2011, at 20, (Accessed 20 October 2012), inhttp://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/06/20/the_revolution_will_be_retweeted.
[1] Many sources have provided different timeline when it comes to the
history of internet. One argued that the internet was firstly developed in
1957, while others offer that the internet was firstly used in public in 1974.
“When was the internet invented?” (Accessed
on 28 October 2012) http://www.letusfindout.com/
when-was-the-internet-invented/.
[2] The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), as cited by
Internet World Statistics (www.internetworldstat.com)
noted that, until June 2012, there are 2.405.518.376 internet active users
around the world. Based on the region, Asia is dominantly the home of most
internet users, covering 44.8 % of the total registered users. Europe comes on
the second place with 21.5%, while North America stays at number 3 with 11.4%.
Latin America ranks number four with 10.4% contribution, followed by Africa
(7%), Middle East (3.7) and Oceania/Australia (1%).
