A team of Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) students, part of the Student Creativity Program (PKM), researched the Korean Pop (K-pop) cultural phenomenon in the 2024 Indonesian elections.
Through their study titled “Politicization of Fandom: Crowdfunding and Fan-Projects in Political Campaigns by Anies Baswedan Volunteers,” the team uncovered unique and interesting facts about the supporters of Anies Baswedan as a presidential candidate.
The PKM team in the Social Sciences and Humanities Research field (PKM-RSH) consists of Jasmine Rizky El Yasinta, Cristopher Isac Wibowo, Elvira Chandra Dewi Ari Nanda, Kezia Aurora, and Muhammad Ahsan Alhuda.
They receive guidance from a Communication Science lecturer from the UGM Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (Fisipol UGM), Mashita Phitaloka Fandia P.
The team leader, Jasmine Rizky El Yasinta, shared the research results indicating a shift in public sentiment towards politics in Indonesia. According to Yasinta, the @aniesbubble account on the social media platform X emerged as a supporter of Anies Baswedan.
“The account elaborates on the programs promoted by the Anies-Muhaimin team to introduce them to the public uniquely,” Yasinta told reporters on Tuesday (Jun. 26).
According to Yasinta and her team, the @aniesbubble account adopts K-pop fandom culture in its political agenda. This communication style is demonstrated through Korean characters or hangeul, Korean terms, and even positioning the Anies-Muhaimin pair as Korean idols.
“This phenomenon has garnered significant support and sympathy for candidate pair 01,” she explained.
Moreover, the emergence of the @aniesbubble account has sparked the creation of similar accounts, such as @oldproject, on the same platform. This account successfully raised funds to support Anies’s campaign.
Anies even expressed his gratitude to this community through his official account after they sent a coffee truck to one of the Desak Anies events.
“As is known, sending a food truck or coffee truck is a common practice of K-pop fandoms towards their idols. Both @aniesbubble and @oldproject are not part of the Anies-Muhaimin success team but rather an organically grown community of 01 supporters in society,” said Elvira Nanda, another team member.
Nanda and her colleagues found this phenomenon intriguing and worth research. They conducted a virtual ethnographic study of the social media platform X to uncover the facts behind the emergence of K-pop culture in politics.
“From our survey results, this campaign style has proven effective with an index of 4.16 out of 5,” she revealed.
The effectiveness is due to the similarity in campaign-style with interests derived from the younger generation. This approach garners more attention from a significant portion of society, considering that K-pop has a substantial community in Indonesia.
Nanda mentioned several notable aspects of the application of K-pop fandom culture. Some of these include the use of Korean terms and Kpop terminologies, such as oppa (older brother or term for male idols), ahjussi (middle-aged man), maknae (the youngest person), or olpbbong (lightstick for Kpop fans).
The use of these terms contrasts sharply with the traditionally rigid, exclusive political sentiment that often fails to engage the younger generation. This research proves this strategy can effectively increase public attention and sentiment in political campaigns.
“Our survey also proved that the politicization of fandom significantly influences Gen-Z’s views on a political figure,” she explained.
Through interviews conducted by the PKM team, the initiator of the @aniesbubble account explained that the messages conveyed through posts on the social media platform X are believed to be a new way of campaigning for political figures that can increase public sympathy. The public finds this new political nuance more flexible, light, unique, and funny.
Author: Tasya
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Photo: Freepik