PENGGUNAAN MEDIA SOSIAL OLEH KEHUMASAN LEMBAGA DALAM MENCIPTAKAN RUANG DIALOG ANTARA MASYARAKAT DAN LEMBAGA

Abstract

Various events that transpired during the 2017 DKI Jakarta Local Election (Pilkada) have drawn quite the attention at the national scale, especially how the election went down and resulted in a number of cases, putting the credibility of the Election Commission (KPU) of the Special Capital (DKI) of Jakarta Province, as the country’s independent institution managing the local election, to the test. During the election, the incumbent Governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (more commonly known by his nickname, Ahok), campaigned for re-election alongside Djarot Saiful Hidayat. In addition, former National Army (TNI) officer, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, alongside Sylviana Murni, and scholar and former Minister of Education and Culture, Anies Baswedan, also declared to run as Governor with Sandiaga Uno. One of the fascinating cases suffered by KPU was when Sumarno, as the Head of DKI Jakarta Province’s KPU, was accused of being biased against Basuki Tjahaya Purnama (Ahok) due to supporting a mass demonstration orchestrated by Islamic Defender Front or Front Pembela Islam (FPI). This demonstration was known as ‘212 Demonstration’. Sumarno was proven to have uploaded the documentation for this demonstration as his Whatsapp profile picture. This neutrality case did not stop there. Not along after the case, Sumarno was proven to have attended the meeting of Ahok’s campaign team, making Anies Baswedan’s group furious. Meanwhile, another neutrality case was also making headlines when Sumarno met Anies on the final day of the election in Kalibata. From these three cases, the people questioned KPU’s integrity, causing this institution to face a reputational crisis in need of a timely, accurate, and appropriate remedy in order to recover the people’s trust to KPU and maintain its reputation as an independent institution. Referring to the five principles of creating a dialogue space in social media from Heaselgrave and Simmon, the author will evaluate the steps taken by KPU DKI Jakarta in resolving these issues by using social media. In these modern times, social media has become the primary communication method from an institution or organization to the public. However, social media is still being used as a one directional communication, and ignores the feedback from the message receiver, namely the people, when the fact is, media has become an integral part of people’s daily lives. These events, characterized by highly interactive communication and people’s accessibility to partake in said issues, can gain a massive leverage through social media. This should serve as a consideration by institutions such as KPU. Social media creates a dialogue that can make it easier for KPU DKI Jakarta and the people in communicating issues and their solutions, as well as serving as the proper measure for fast, accurate, and appropriate crisis management.