In Asia editor Alma Freeman recently caught up with author and social media expert Beth Kanter after a talk held at The Asia Foundation’s headquarters, organized by the Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy. Named one of the most influential women in technology by Fast Company and one of the BusinessWeek’s “Voices of Innovation for Social Media,” Kanter is the author of Beth’s Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media for Social Change, and Visiting Scholar at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

GlobalWebIndex’s latest data shows that the internet now makes up 57 percent of global media consumption, with social media alone taking 26 percent of people’s media time, more than TV’s 23 percent. What does this trend mean?

If you think about the media landscape, it looks like a clover: you have traditional media, influencer blogs, and social media. People are now getting their information from all of those sources, especially in places with good broadband access. But this means that people, especially younger people, need to have a really good sense of digital literacy and be able to detect: Is this the whole story? Is it balanced? Is it the truth? Especially now that we have the filter bubble with Google, which is feeding us back what is likeable, as opposed to search results that are balanced.

Increased internet access, pervasive broadband, and the ability to get internet on the smartphone have made information so much more accessible. Things like the $25 tablet in India are making a huge difference. As the tools and technology become more accessible, the environment online becomes more socially interesting. But there’s always resistance to technology and social media – the argument of why should we do it now, it’s just a fad, it’s going to go away. Now, most of the nonprofits I work with view social media as an important part of their marketing, but there’s still the struggle that organizations have on getting everyone to participate. Navigating the personal and professional is also very tricky – many employees may be using it personally and care about the issues around the organization. Figuring out how to navigate and leverage that personal passion for your organization’s work in service of the mission is not an easy thing to do.

Internet usage is sky-rocketing in Asia, making it one of the fastest-growing social media regions in the world. How will this change social media and particularly, how non-profits and NGOs can use it?

That’s true, but when I go to India, I hear people say often that only 3 percent of the population is on Facebook, so why should I care? While that’s true, that 3 percent represents over 60 million people, which is the third largest country on Facebook. Most of those people are concentrated in urban areas, but that doesn’t mean that someone in a village with a smart phone can’t get that information and influence others off-line.

You have a deep connection to Cambodia, and helped raise money for the first Cambodian Bloggers conference in 2007 and recently attended another bloggers conference last year. What has changed?

I first started blogging in 2003 and had three blogs, one for non-profits, and two on Cambodia. I started getting comments from Cambodian young people, and became the bridge blogger for Global Voices, and started blogging and interacting with Cambodian bloggers more on a regular basis. Then I met Tharum, one of Cambodia’s first and most influential bloggers, and helped to get him a scholarship to go to London. He went on to become a very well-know blogger.
When I was first in Phnom Penh in 2000, there was one traffic light, and the only internet connection was in the fancy hotel that was a dial up and super slow. In 2004, there were a couple of internet cafes. Now it seems like there is Wi-Fi everywhere, and people are getting it to their phones. It has changed vastly.

What role can blogs play that traditional media cannot? Can they help increase transparency and citizen participation?

The later question is asking a lot, honestly. Unless everyone is working together, and has a tremendous amount of backing, I don’t know how realistic it is to expect bloggers and social media alone to be able to transform countries and governments. Although we have seen things like the Arab Spring which was driven by Facebook, we’re still watching to see the impact it had on lasting change. However, blogs can be an authentic, local voice. They can give a sense of what’s happening locally and how people are thinking about issues. That’s what attracted me to Global Voices. For example, during the viral online campaign to capture Uganda warlord Kony, I loved going and reading from the Ugandan bloggers. You found that what they were thinking and how they were talking about the event was completely different than here.
Social media is a double-edged sword. There is social media for good and social media for evil. It’s a question around the resilience of our networks. In September, I was supposed to be on a plane to Tunisia, but it was cancelled because of that video that triggered a wave of unrest in the region. So, I wrote a blog on why I’m not on a plane to Tunisia right now, and it was basically about how we need to build more resilience in our networks and civil society so that when something like this happens, people can rise up and resolve it, as opposed to just escalating the bad.

The inauguration ceremony of South Korea’s new president, Park Geun-hye, was held on February 25 with mixed feelings among Koreans about her election. She is the daughter of the controversial former president, Park Chung Hee, who is seen as the man who motivated Korea’s economic development miracle, but also criticized as a harsh dictator who ruled the country for 18 years. She is the country’s first female president, but is also from a conservative party in a country that ranks lowest in The Economist‘s latest Global Ceiling index, which compares 26 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in terms of the working environment for women.

Korea inaugurated its new president, Park Geun-hye, on Feb. 25 with mixed feelings among Koreans about her election. Photo/SBS

The more telling part is that she was elected with 15,773,128 votes, which is 51.6 percent of eligible voters. This was the first time that a South Korean president got more than half of the votes since Korea reintroduced direct popular voting in 1987. The voter turnout was the highest since 1997 at 75.8 percent. SBS (Seoul Broadcasting System), where I work as a reporter and one of the three major broadcasting networks in Korea and the first and largest private broadcasting station, played an influential role in this election’s high turnout and voter engagement. They did this by using a creative outreach campaign.

Since 1987, especially among Korea’s young adults and more educated population, interest in voting has consistently waned as the public expressed increasing disappointment in politics and politicians who are seen as always fighting among themselves and not putting the interest of the people first.

To help raise voter turnout, SBS decided to try something new in the lead up to the general elections for the National Assembly in May and the subsequent presidential election in December. Before this, election coverage in Korea was mostly about delivering exit polls and ballot counts.

Starting with the general election, SBS launched an outreach campaign that asked people to take a picture of themselves in front of the polling station after they voted and send it to the broadcasting station. When we received the pictures, we put them on the lower right side of the TV screen, so everyone could see who had voted. The response was enthusiastic and spread quickly among voters, who liked having their pictures on TV. They told their family members and friends about it, and more and more people went to vote. What was striking was that the majority of participants were young people, many of whom were voting for the first time.

SBS launched an outreach campaign that asked people to take a picture of themselves in front of the polling station after they voted and send it to SBS, which then featured them on screen during election coverage. Photo/SBS

For the presidential election, SBS went a step further. We not only put pictures of the voters on the screen but also had people tell us beforehand what time they intended to vote. Then SBS sent them stickers that they could put on their car to remind them of the time and to inspire others to vote. We also made a “get out the vote” song with famous singer and actor Kim Chang-wan, who is a radio DJ at SBS. It was then made into a music video with webtoons.

On election day, SBS received 65,000 pictures of people voting, mostly younger voters. This also encouraged many older people, who were nervous that a strong turnout among young people might sway the vote, to also go out and vote, which helped raise the voting rate even more.

SBS also focused on making the ballot-counting coverage on live TV more engaging. We made computer graphics incorporating scenes of movies and TV shows using scenes from the popular the Korean movie, “Friend,” in which the main characters are running. It was designed so that it looked like the main characters were the candidates, putting the candidate with the highest vote in front. SBS also used sports like fencing to show how the candidates were performing in different districts. Mark MacKinnon, a correspondent for Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper tweeted that “after watching how South Korean TV covers an election, I’ll never watch CNN again” and CNN correspondent Paula Hancocks responded, “Don’t worry, I’m taking notes!”

For the first time since 1987, the voting rate actually rose instead of dropped. The biggest difference compared to the 2007 presidential election was the massive voting among people in the age group of 20-30. As in 2007, people in their 50s and 60s still voted the most, 82 percent and 80.9 percent respectively, which is 5 percent higher than before, but the rate for voters in their early 20s jumped from 51.1 percent in 2007 to 71.1 percent, and those in their late 20s jumped from 42.9 percent to 65.7 percent. The voting rate of those in their early 30s was 67.7 percent which was 16.4 percent higher than four years ago, and that of those in their late 30s was 72.3 percent which was 13.8 percent higher than before.

On February 27, the government awarded SBS President Woo Wan Gil a medal for the network’s contribution to the nation. We were proud of ourselves as a media company not just because of the medal, but because we engaged Koreans to follow the elections and go to vote, which is the most basic democratic responsibility. We realized that even when people tend to ignore the news, if you do it right, they will watch. And, even in this day and age, the media can play a critical role in improving society.

Chong-ae Lee, a current Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, is a senior reporter on the Future and Vision Desk for SBS in Korea, where she has worked since 1995. At Harvard, she is studying journalism related to complex trauma, focusing on people who have experienced the effects of periods of colonialism, war and military-influenced dictatorial administrations followed by rapid economic growth. Her fellowship is under the auspices of The Asia Foundation, and administered by the Foundation’s Asian American Exchange unit. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and not those of The Asia Foundation.

In Vietnam, a remarkable 95 percent of young people between the ages of 15 and 24 have access to the internet, with social networking growing so rapidly that Vietnam is Facebook’s fastest growing market in the world, with an estimated 8.5 million users, according to a We Are Social report. No doubt, rapid economic growth in the past two decades has contributed to tremendous social transformation in Vietnam, while global integration and the communications revolution have connected young Vietnamese to outside information and views like never before. Despite these trends, a brand new survey reveals that traditional gender roles remain deeply embedded in Vietnamese society and institutions, permeating work, home, and the public arena.

While a rapid increase in access to the internet and social media has connected Vietnamese youth to outside information like never before, a new survey reveals that traditional gender roles remain deeply embedded in Vietnamese society. Photo/Karl Grobl

While discussions on gender issues in Vietnam are on the rise, they are often static and focus on symptoms rather than examining the drivers of inequality. Seeking to recast the gender conversation in a way that engages Vietnamese youth, over the past six months The Asia Foundation has been working with two Vietnamese NGOs, the Institute for Studies of Society, Economy, and Environment (iSEE) and the Research Centre for Gender, Family, and Environment in Development (CGFED), to develop and implement an interactive online survey and discussion forum called “Youth and Gender in Vietnam.” This initiative explores Vietnamese youth’s gender conceptions and the impact on their lives – from their choices of careers and partners to their vision of leadership.

The response to the survey and forum has been exciting. Within just two days of the launch online in early January 2013, 2,100 young people from all over the country had responded. While we are still in the process of analyzing the results, initial findings from the survey and in-depth interviews have produced some surprises with sobering implications for gender equality in Vietnam. In all, over 2,500 people took the survey, which was conducted through three popular websites; News.zing.vn, VOZ forum, and Lamchame forum. We explored the results in greater detail through in-depth interviews and focus groups discussions with students in the North and Center of Vietnam. Eight interviews and two group discussions have been held so far. More are planned, with further interviews and group discussions engaging young people in the South, informal workers, and teenagers.

Vision of leadership

The survey reveals strong preference among young people for leadership characteristics most commonly associated with men. More than 80 percent of respondents believe that a leader needed to be “decisive,” while 62 percent voted for “strong.”

Respondents also overwhelmingly identified those characteristics as being male rather than female characteristics. There was very little difference in response whether the respondent was male or female, whether they were from a rural or urban area, or whether they were already working or still in school. In follow-up focus group discussions held in universities in Hanoi and at a teacher’s training college in Phu Yen province in February, male students voiced very strong views against the idea of having female leaders. One respondent in Phu Yen critically stated, for example, that, “It’s fine if they are talented women, but I still prefer a male superior.”  Given that these students are being trained to become teachers who will inculcate ideas about gender roles to future generations of young Vietnamese, the strong gender bias they hold is a cause for concern.

Career choice

The survey data conveyed gender prejudice around career choice, as well. While over 80 percent said that being a university professor was suitable for both men and women, far fewer – around 50 percent – of respondents stated women should pursue careers as government leaders, economic experts, or entrepreneurs. Interestingly, the 50 percent who said that these careers were unsuitable for women were evenly split between male and female respondents.

Partner expectations

Famously, in 1965 President Ho Chi Minh said that the heroic, indomitable, generous, and responsible contributions of Vietnamese women should be honored. Often repeated, these became the idealized characteristics for the next generations of Vietnamese women. According to the survey, perceptions on this don’t seem to have changed. Skillfulness (66%), hardworking nature (63%), and self-sacrificing/long-suffering (33%) remain the key expectations of a female partner among young Vietnamese men. Meanwhile, Vietnamese women overwhelmingly identify stereotypically male traits in their perfect partner, with 81 percent wanting their partners to be “strong.” One quality both young men and women wanted to see in their partners was dynamism – identified by 50 percent of both sexes.

These preliminary survey results show that Vietnam’s younger generation, a group that is often held up as being very open and liberal, hold on to traditional gender roles. These views will have direct impact on the choices they make in their careers, relationships, children, and friends, and how they perceive leadership and power. Despite all the rapid changes in Vietnam, it seems that a spiral of “gender bias” continues to be passed from generation to generation, embedded in social values and norms. The survey is just the first stage of our work. We will use the results to generate debate among young people on key issues such as characteristics for leaders and partners, sharing the burden of domestic work, and domestic violence. We will use both online engagement through the gender forum run by CGFED and off-line events in universities and workplaces to get young people debating and challenging stereotypes. A full report on the project will be published later this year but the occasion of International Women’s Day presents an opportune moment to consider how policy-makers and gender activists can adapt their approaches to tackle the deep roots of gender inequality more effectively.

Read more about The Asia Foundation in Vietnam, and learn how you can support our Vietnam Scholarship Program for Disadvantaged Girls.

Nguyen Viet Ha is The Asia Foundation’s senior program officer for Social Development and Women’s Empowerment in Vietnam. She can be reached at nvha@asiafound.org. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and not those of The Asia Foundation.

The residents of Jakarta, Indonesia’s chaotic, smog-choked capital, head to the polls on Thursday, September 20 to elect a new governor, rounding off what has been a surprisingly engaging, and at times messy, new chapter in the country’s maturing democracy. This is not the first time that Jakartans have voted in free elections, but it is the first time that social media has played a prominent role in the campaign.

Jokowi posters on a roadside food stall in South Jakarta. Alongside the candidates’ campaigns, a lively discussion has played out online, with more than half a million tweets about the two candidates generated in one month over July and August.

Indonesia has more than 43 million Facebook users, and Jakarta was recently named the most active Twitter city in the world. Following the first round of voting in July, Thursday’s runoff polls will see the incumbent, Governor Fauzi Bowo, up against Joko Widodo (commonly known as Jokowi), the popular reformist mayor of the Central Java city of Solo. In a competitive and sometimes bitter race, both camps have sought to harness the country’s exploding social media base – with varied success.

Jokowi’s team, which won a greater share of the votes in the first round, has run a savvy change-focused campaign, featuring public forums on Skype, upbeat YouTube videos, and an Angry Birds-style computer game in which Jokowi lobs exploding tomatoes at corrupt officials.

Jokowi’s team, which won a greater share of the votes in the first round, has run a savvy change-focused campaign, featuring public forums on Skype, upbeat YouTube videos, and an Angry Birds-style computer game in which Jokowi lobs exploding tomatoes at corrupt officials.

On Sunday, in what was ostensibly an unpaid show of support (paying people to attend campaign events is a common occurrence in Indonesia), more than 2,000 Jokowi fans held a flash mob on Jakarta’s main thoroughfare, while Fauzi campaigned just 100 meters away. With professional photographers on hand, Jokowi’s supporters danced to a One Direction song, with dubbed Indonesian lyrics highlighting the megacity’s many intractable problems like traffic congestion, flooding, and bribery in the public service. The spectacle finished with dancers removing their jackets to reveal Jokowi’s trademark red and blue-checkered shirt. The original Jokowi-One Direction video that inspired the dance has racked up more than a million views on YouTube since it was posted late last month.

Fauzi, meanwhile, has run a comparatively staid campaign, relying mostly on support from his traditional patronage networks, such as the civil service, neighborhood leaders, and teachers. When he has tried to deploy Jokowi-style tactics, the difference between the two candidates has been stark, with Fauzi calling on the support of a deeply uncool – and some would say bigoted – former singer of the local music style dangdut, Rhoma Irama.

Alongside the candidates’ campaigns, a lively discussion has played out online, with more than half a million tweets about the two candidates generated in one month over July and August. Despite social media having emerged as a new battleground in Indonesian politics, it has yet to translate into greater engagement on policy substance, or critical reflection on complex problems. While Jokowi’s town hall-style Skype discussions represent an exciting development, the rise of social media in the campaign has been marked more by the ugly exploitation of ethnic and religious issues.

A banner in the Central Jakarta district of Tanah Abang encourages local residents to vote in a smooth, safe, and orderly fashion.

Much of the online animosity has targeted Jokowi’s running mate, a candidate who is ethnically Chinese and Christian, Basuki Tjahja Purnama (commonly known as Ahok). A shady viral video called “Chinese Cowboy” warned of a repeat of the 1998 riots that targeted ethnic Chinese if Chinese Indonesians chose to vote in the runoff. On Twitter, baseless rumors even circulated that the professional Jokowi campaign was thanks in part to millions of dollars of support from the Vatican.

One of the worst offenders has been the incumbent’s running mate, Nachromi Ramli, who, in the face of significant media discomfort over the growing role of race-politics in the campaign, engaged in some casual racism on Sunday night’s televised debate, using a mock Chinese accent to greet Ahok. This followed an incident where Fauzi supporters in the audience at a joint public declaration for a peaceful election booed and taunted Ahok with racial slurs.

Perhaps most depressing is that pundits have noted that these dirty tactics have been effective, with recent surveys suggesting the race will be closer than originally thought. The liberal magazine Tempo observed with some distress on Monday that far more voters seem to have had a problem with Ahok’s religion than the fact that the Jokowi ticket has been generously funded by former Suharto-era strongman and 2014 presidential frontrunner Prabowo Subianto.

Meanwhile, the state has struggled to keep up with the dynamics of this new online-based campaigning. Both the General Election Commission (KPU) and the Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) stated they did not have the authority to supervise social media content, and campaign regulations do not yet contain provisions for regulating official campaigning via social media. The KPU, missing an important opportunity, has not taken advantage of social media for its voter education efforts in either round of the race.

It’s already clear that a noisy online campaign does not necessarily translate into a greater turnout at the ballot box. With the exception of the “Gecko versus Crocodile” dispute between the Corruption Eradication Commission and the police, and the “Coins for Prita” campaign, social media in Indonesia has been historically quite poor at mobilizing citizens into political action. Yet if Jokowi is able to claim the governor’s title on Thursday, as expected, the implications for the approaching 2014 legislative and presidential elections are significant. At the very least, Indonesia can expect more polished campaigns with candidates who attempt to engage more actively with their citizens. Whether this engagement is able to move beyond superficial and tokenistic point scoring remains to be seen.

Tim Mann is a program officer in The Asia Foundation’s Indonesia office. He can be reached at tmann@tafindo.org. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and not those of The Asia Foundation.