Islamic-based Media Must be Ready for Society 5.0

PPIM.UINJKT.AC.ID – Head of Islamic Media Syndication, Abdul Karim Munthe, called on all Islamic-based media to get ready for Society 5.0, a “super smart” era that would change people’s lifestyle in so many ways.

He was speaking on Friday (23/10) in a virtual seminar series of #ModerasiBeragama (Religious Moderation) themed “Santri as Pioneer of Religious Moderation”, which 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.

Although there were already very few of Islamic-based media established in 2000s, such as islamlib.com (2001) and gusmus.net (2004), the emergence of such media outlets started to boom in 2010. Website portal of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country’s largest Muslim organization, for example, was first created in 1999 but only contained about the organization’s activities at first.

“The industrial revolution and the Society 5.0 will significantly affect our lifestyles, including our understanding and perspectives,” Abdul said.

Such a revolution would trigger a new way of delivering religious teachings. Therefore, content providers should enrich their discourses about other issues instead of only focusing on basic religious contents.

“Discussions about Islam in social media vary a lot and are related to people’s private life, so mental health is also an important issue to follow,” Abdul said.

The virtual seminar on Religious Moderation is held every Friday via “Convey Indonesia” and “PPIM UIN Jakarta” official Youtube channels. The discussion, moderated by Convey Indonesian Team Leader Jamhari Makruf, also presented Ismail Fahmi, PhD., the creator of Drone Emprit application, and Iim Halimatusa’diyah, Ph.D., research coordinator for “Media and Religious Conservatism”, as speakers.

Writer: Grace Rachmanda