At What Age Do You Realize That Indonesian Hospitality Is Pseudo-Indonesian? Thanks To Microsoft
Photo illustration (Camilo Jimenez / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - In 2012, Lonely Planet released a list of the friendliest countries in the world. In 2018, other data strengthens the identity of Indonesian hospitality. Indeed, Indonesia is known as a country with characteristics of politeness and warmth. However, Microsoft recently released the results of a survey that ranked Indonesia as the most disrespectful country in cyberspace. What is the common thread of all this? Let's explore the roots of our nation's hospitality. Which side is our authenticity?

The list is quoted from the Lonely Planet book, "1000 Ultimate Experiences" edition. Indonesia is one of the countries on the list. Describing Indonesian hospitality, the book writes that travelers will be greeted with big smiles from Indonesians throughout the country, from Aceh to Papua. Friendliness is also said to be a factor that attracts the interest of migrants.

A more actual picture of the friendliness of the Indonesian people can be seen in the Ease of Settling in Index survey released in 2019. The survey was conducted by a global network for people who live and work abroad (expatriates), InterNations.

InterNations conducted a membership poll of 20,259 respondents in more than 187 countries. The survey specifically looked at which countries warmly welcomed expats. Respondents were asked to rate several factors divided into four sub-categories on a scale of 1 (poor) to 7 (very good).

The poll's topics ranged from the friendliness of the locals to how comfortable they are with the local culture, including language issues and the ease with which they can make friends. Of the 64 countries, Indonesia is in the top ten list of the friendliest countries in the world.

Infographic Ease of Settling In Index 2019 (Source: InterNations)
2020 Digital Civility Index (DCI) Survey

The characteristic of friendly Indonesian society was suddenly disturbed by a survey conducted by Microsoft: Digital Civility Index (DCI) 2020. In a ranking system that lists 32 countries, Indonesia is one of the countries with the most rude citizens in online interactions.

Broadly speaking, Indonesia is ranked 29th out of 32 countries listed in the survey. Indonesia is only superior to Mexico (DCI 76), Russia (DCI 80), and South Africa (DCI 81) in terms of politeness in cyberspace. The country that is considered the most polite to interact online is the Netherlands.

The Land of the Windmills received a value of 51 percent. After the Netherlands, other countries in the top five are Britain (55%), the United States (56%), Singapore (59%), and Taiwan (61%). In terms of data, lower percentages reflect better online interactions.

The survey describes the scoring system as ranging on a scale of zero to one hundred. Basically every country starts the survey with a score of one hundred points. There are three risk indicators presented by Microsoft in its assessment, namely hoaxes and scams (increased by 13 points), hate speech (increased by five points), and discrimination (decreased by two points).

Photo illustration (Ravi Sharma / Unsplash)

From the DCI 2020 report, Microsoft found that the level of politeness of Indonesian citizens has actually worsened from the previous year, which caused it to drop eight points to a score of 76. Indonesia is considered impolite because of the high activity of citizens in terms of exposure to negative things.

In other words, it is our interest in negative content that makes this judgment even lower. The DCI report, 69 percent of correspondents said that the most common action taken by Indonesian citizens when interacting in cyberspace is to defend themselves in giving comments when treating other people on the internet.

Interestingly, this survey ranked netizens in the adult group as having the worst behavior. Meanwhile, youth groups appear to be more educated about ethics on the internet. Teenagers do not make a positive or negative contribution to the politeness scores of Indonesian citizens. Our 16-point slump is entirely driven by adult netizens.

"There is no change in the DCI score for young Indonesian citizens. But the decline is minus 16 points for adults in Indonesia," wrote Microsoft, quoted by VOI, Friday, February 26.

Capture Microsoft survey screen (Source: Microsoft)

DCI is Microsoft's annual survey aimed at "promoting safer, healthier, more respectful online interactions among all people." In that survey, Microsoft asked thousands of respondents from different ages and different countries according to behavior, sexual, reputation, and behavior categories. as well as personal / annoying.

"This annual study of digital politeness is important to raise awareness and encourage positive interactions online," said Liz Thomas, Regional Digital Safety Lead, Asia-Pacific, Microsoft, as quoted by Mashable.

The founder of the social network analysis system, Drone Emprit, Ismail Fahmi, gave his views on several things in the survey. According to him, technically, the data presented by Microsoft actually reflects the behavior of Indonesian citizens as a whole. Judging from the three risk indicators that put Indonesia in the bottom position, Fahmi said that the three of them were identical to the online surfing habits of the Indonesian people.

"From the criteria, that's how he measures all of this. It must be from there. And the one with the highest is the hoax. So hoax is indeed extraordinary. Then also the hatespeech and discrimination, there are us," he told VOI. Friday, 26 February.

"Try to imagine we were told to describe Indonesia's social media, what do you remember? There must be hoaxes, definitely buzzers, commotion. There is a lot if there is a crowd on Twitter, then the netizens say 'sign stalls (tweets that are the source of the commotion) first. I'll come back later or something like that. That's an image. Personal views, about our self-image, "Fahmi.

"Microsoft is good at validating our condition. We shouldn't be angry," he added.

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Another interesting finding is that the adult age group has more corrupt social media behavior than teenagers. According to Fahmi, habit is the key. Teens grow up with all the touches of technology and internet interactions. Meanwhile, adults miss a lot in the process of online social learning.

"This is education. If we look at teenagers, they just meet a smartphone, have found a computer, have met social media, have found games. They are already used to it. Moreover, there are some in the context of this game that they interact internationally. They learn how to communicate, how to communicate. , how to type a sentence, that 'don't be Capslock because Capslock is a sign that you are angry.' These things are not understood by adults, "Fahmi.

Our pseudo-hospitality

Fahmi's statement regarding the validity of Microsoft's survey results on the real conditions of Indonesian citizens was strengthened from a social perspective. Sociologist at the State Islamic University (UIN) Syarif Hidayatullah, Tantan Hermansyah, explained the roots of the social characteristics of the Indonesian people who are known to be friendly. According to Tantan, the hospitality of the Indonesian people is based on a compromise motive.

Indonesia is known as a country with a very rich culture. Not to mention the sub-culture. All of these cultures and subcultures encourage the growth of tolerance and high respect for each other. Why? Because culture and sub-culture must support each other so that their existence is maintained naturally.

"Every culture, no matter how small and simple, will interact with other cultures. Every sub-culture that intensely interacts with other cultures will produce other cultures of a greater level because it must show aspects of trust, respect, empathy, and so on," said Tantan. , contacted VOI, Friday, February 26.

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"With interactions that then result in tolerance and mutual respect, the existence of a sub-culture will have the potential for sustainability. Without the ability to negotiate and compromise, a culture will likely be destroyed," added Tantan.

Age develops. Social, cultural, political and economic conditions encourage a shift in the social structure. The friendly Indonesian character has persisted, but the motive for compromise has changed. It is no longer a matter of how to take care of each other but instead shifts to a more pragmatic direction.

"I have a funny story, my teacher, an ustaz, a professor as well, an international alumni, came to be invited to lecture at a place. Because he was very relaxed, he came wearing a T-shirt, hat, and training. all disband and respect, "Tantan.

"Again, social construction is built not by virtue of nobility anymore, but by praxis ... In my opinion, the hospitality of the Indonesian people is very motivated to earn or gain certain benefits," he added.

We remember the two survey results we described earlier. Both of them measure the friendliness of the Indonesian people in two life contexts which in practice require a hospitality motive. The Lonely Planet survey, for example. The survey raises the perspectives of foreign travelers or tourists. On another level, the Ease of Settling in Index elevates expatriates as a corseponden.

"The theory is like this, tourists and expats need to be served. The service base is friendly. Friendly people, don't even need to bring anything, will be accepted. Local residents need to spend of money for tourists. To make them comfortable, they have to be served. There is a symbiosis of mutualism. "Tantan.

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