Jakarta (The Jakarta Post/ANN) - If Facebook is a country, it would be the world¿s third most-populated.
With some 900 million Facebook members worldwide - and some 40 million coming from Indonesia, the relationship is like a match made in heaven.
Combined with Twitter¿s more than 500 million users globally, with nearly 20 million being Indonesians, the two may outrank China - the world¿s most-populated nation with some 1.3 billion people.
Social networking sites are booming, playing an important part in people¿s lives, including in the country.
The phenomenon has been described as a ¿love affair¿ between the country¿s citizens and social media.
Deemed by Peter Vesterbacka, chief marketing officer of Rovio - the gaming company behind the hugely popular game, Angry Birds, as the ¿Facebook Capital of the World¿, Jakarta¿s passion for networking websites is undeniable.
Excitement has been buzzing about the potential that social media has for change and a need to harness this potential is now becoming urgent.
With its booming economy paired with the infamous inequality between the haves and have-nots, Jakarta proves to be a perfect arena to see if social media can really lead us to a more equal and harmonious future.
¿I believe that digital platforms will have a huge positive impact in Indonesia," said Enda Nasution, a popular blogger among Jakartan youths, who is also the founder of the website salingsilang.com.
A strong advocate for social media, he is one of many who have high hopes for the nation¿s strengthening relationship with the Internet.
The connection that he finds has potential to benefit the nation at many levels - ¿from education to commerce and business, and even other areas we are not aware of today¿.
Social media is not only used to reach out to those who seek to better their lives, but also those whose lives are at risk.
Bernard Wahyumandiri, an edutainment coordinator of the Yayasan AIDS foundation, found a pivotal role in Twitter and Facebook for its campaign.
¿Those sites help us to keep reminding people about the infection of HIV in Indonesia and, more importantly, we can reach out to people who may need our information."
