Indonesia Tanpa Pacaran: Indonesia’s Newest Religious-based Internet Phenomenon
December 9, 2021 6:00 pm ||
If you spend a lot of your time on the social media, you have probably heard this name before, Indonesia Tanpa Pacaran (ITP), a movement to promote Indonesia without “pacaran” or dating. The premise of this movement is to eradicate pacaran amongst Indonesian youth by 2024 as dating is perceived to entice people to do zina. They focused on the problems that young people often encountered, love and searching for oneself, to base their content on and increase the curiosity of its target audience. This movement is slowly gaining influence in Indonesia with millions of followers on their social media combined. With this article, it is aimed to analyze the rise of ITP as an online phenomenon in Indonesia due to its increasing influence.
The history of Indonesia Tanpa Pacaran
How Indonesia Tanpa Pacaran uses online platforms to promote their movements
One of the most interesting aspects of ITP is their heavy reliance of online platforms and social media to promote their movements. They target mostly teenagers and young adults (Gen Z), which many use social media daily. ITP uses social media such as Facebook, Instagram, LINE, WhatsApp and Telegram as an interactive and easily-accessible platform to promote their movement. They enthral their target audience with captivating visual content and provocative captions, mainly pertaining love and stigmatized criticisms on dating. They focus on posting interesting contents and high-intensity posting time. Munafar explained that 32 posts should be made each day in their social media, to gain more engagements and outreach of their movement. He further explained that the social media team is expected to post twice per hour to achieve their daily goals and to post with a maximum of one hour interval between each post.[v] Apart from in-person study groups & meetings, they also use WhatsApp to hold weekly tausiyah.[vi] With this strategy, they have amassed more than 1 million followers on Instagram and more than 500.000 followers on Facebook, signalling their increasing online influence on Indonesian youths.
Criticisms towards the movement
Conclusion
This article is aimed to uncover the phenomenon that is ITP through analyzing their views, methods and criticisms that are directed towards them. This article is also written to demonstrate the increasing usage of cyberspace as a means to promote a religious movement as it makes it more accessible for people to follow. ITP has become one of the most interesting internet phenomenon that arose in our recent memory. Their smart usage of social media and captivating content have captured the hearts of many young Indonesians that are struggling with their love lives and identity. The internet clout that ITP have gotten translated to the many followers of the movement, signalling the success of this religious-based movement. It will be interesting to see the future conjectures that arise from this movement as it and more religious-based internet phenomenons develop in the future.
Author: Jasmine Noor Andretha Putri
Editor: Amelinda Pandu Kusumaningtyas
References
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[i] Khalika, N., 2018. Cara Indonesia Tanpa Pacaran Memikat Ratusan Ribu Pengikut – Tirto.ID. [online] tirto.id. Available at: <https://tirto.id/cara-indonesia-tanpa-pacaran-memikat-ratusan-ribu-pengikut-cLgQ> [Accessed 13 May 2020].
[ii] Harinanda, S., 2019. Kontroversi Gerakan Indonesia Tanpa Pacaran. [online] KOMPASIANA. Available at: <https://www.kompasiana.com/salsabilaastri/5df4c97ed541df2d9c1de3e2/kontroversi-gerakan-indonesia-tanpa-pacaran?page=1> [Accessed 13 May 2020].
[iii] Hidayat, R., 2018a. Bisnis Dan Kontroversi Gerakan Indonesia Tanpa Pacaran – Tirto.ID. [online] tirto.id. Available at: <https://tirto.id/bisnis-dan-kontroversi-gerakan-indonesia-tanpa-pacaran-cK25> [Accessed 13 May 2020].
[iv] Hidayat, R., 2018b. Indonesia Tanpa Pacaran: Antara Biro Jodoh & Ruang Baru Persekusi. [online] tirto.id. Available at: <https://tirto.id/indonesia-tanpa-pacaran-antara-biro-jodoh-ruang-baru-persekusi-cK3b> [Accessed 13 May 2020].
[v] Khalika, 2018.
[vi] Hidayat, 2018b.
[vii] BBC News Indonesia. 2016. ‘Indonesia Tanpa Pacaran’ Berpandangan Sempit?. [online] Available at: <https://www.bbc.com/indonesia/majalah/2016/08/160815_trensosial_pacaran> [Accessed 13 May 2020]
[viii] Malia, I., 2018. “Bom Waktu” Dari Gerakan Indonesia Tanpa Pacaran. [online] IDN Times. Available at: <https://www.idntimes.com/news/indonesia/indianamalia/bom-waktu-dari-gerakan-indonesia-tanpa-pacaran-2/6> [Accessed 13 May 2020].
[ix] Hidayat, 2018b.
[x] Malia, 2018.
[xi] Hidayat, 2018a.