Indonesia: social network penetration Q3 2021

With a penetration rate of around 89 percent, Whatsapp was the most used social network in Indonesia. However, all the other widely known social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook also enjoy a high penetration rate there, making Indonesia one of the largest social media markets in the world.

Social media in Indonesia

The increasing number of internet users and the increasing affordability of smartphones has successfully changed the social media environment in Indonesia. A large share of Indonesians use smartphones and they use it for nearly everything to make their life easier. For most Indonesians, social media is a convenient way to contact families in remote locations of the archipelago; it allows them to continuously interact with friends and it keeps them up-to-date with the daily news. There are quite a few who suspect that the congestion in large cities and the associated waiting times have led to social platforms enjoying ever greater popularity.

The downside of social media

Social media use can also negatively influence the user’s world view. Indonesia is considered very vulnerable to online hoaxes. In 2019, following the electoral riots, the government partially restricted access to the most popular social media platforms to prevent and stop the spread of fake news. The main platforms affected by this ban were the leading social media networks like YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram.