PoliticaWave: Ahok Dominates Online Discussion During Debate

During the first gubernatorial and vice-gubernatorial candidate debate in Jakarta on January 13, 2017, the pair Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) and Djarot Syaiful Hidayat were the most discussed by netizens on social media. Based on monitoring by PoliticaWave, the incumbent pair generated 23,441 conversations.

Conversations related to Ahok-Djarot outperformed other pairs in all debate segments. In the first and second segments, the incumbent candidates led with 47 percent. In the third segment, the number two pair's conversations reached 54 percent. Ahok-Djarot peaked in the fourth segment, winning with 63 percent. They led with 50 percent of conversations in the fifth segment.

Throughout the debate, supporters actively participated using social media. Supporters utilized specific hashtags online. According to PoliticaWave's measurement, the Ahok-Djarot pair excelled during the debate and received positive sentiment due to their data-driven presentation of their vision and mission. However, negative responses arose due to the incumbent pair's frequent party switching.