Jamhari: Be a Smart Social Media User

Jakarta, PPIM – Convey Indonesia Team Leader, Jamhari Makruf, encouraged social media users to be active, but smart, because social media could be an empty barrel that made noise.

“Empty barrels make the most noise,” he said, citing an old saying. “Perhaps, social media is like an empty barrel. It is noisy but contains nothing. It makes buzzing in our ears,” Jamhari said on Friday (27/11) in a virtual seminar series of #ModerasiBeragama (Religious Moderation) themed “Religious Moderation and Polarization in Cyberspace”.

The seminar was organized by the Center for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM) of the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) Jakarta through Convey Indonesia program.

Jamhari said that all social media users could not deny that digital world had become people’s new habit and an indispensable part of everyday life for people. That meant that polarization in social media could be adopted in the real life and lead to endless conflicts.

“In certain ways, social media is a portrait of our social reality. I am sure that our life in social media is surrounded only by certain people. So, we should be smart and good users that actively spread Islamic wasathiyah values,” he said. Wasathiyah refers to the middle path that Islam teaches.

The virtual seminar on Religious Moderation is held every Friday via “Convey Indonesia” official Youtube channel. The discussion, moderated by Convey Indonesian Team Leader Jamhari Makruf, also presented other speakers, such as Prof. Azyumardi Azra, CBE, a prominent Muslim scholar and a professor at UIN Jakarta, Iim Halimatus’adiyah, Ph.D, a Coordinator of MERIT Program, and social media influencer Indra Dwi Prasetyo, who is also Managing Director of ID Next Leader.

Writer: Andita Putri Ghassani
Editor: Zhella Apriesta