Indonesian Man Rivals Jesus, the Bible in Facebook Engagement

Judging from the level of interaction on Facebook this week, Indonesian motivator Mario Teguh has climbed up to third place in the weekly interaction and engagement ranking, according to AllFacebook. It means that this public figure is only a couple of steps behind the top two religious pages ‘Jesus Daily’ and The Bible as one of the most engaging Facebook pages in the world.

Mario’s Facebook page managed to attract 237,110 new fans from last month according to SocialBakers, bringing his total fan count to more than 4.2 million right now.

On his wall, Mario offers wise advice and motivating words, which always generate thousands of ‘likes.’ Indonesians love him for his inspiration, which is how he initially gained popularity on his show Mario Teguh Golden Ways on national private TV.

Mario on Twitter

Unfortunately Mario closed his Twitter account last year after a controversial tweet. His tweet stated, “Women who are interested in clubbing, staying up until morning, snobby chitchat, smoking, and who are sometimes drunk – cannot be planned to be a wife.” This was considered to be very judgmental, attracting a lot of criticism. Even after he clarified and apologized, he still felt the need to close his Twitter account.

But it did not stop his fans from making another Twitter account that quoted Mario’s words of wisdom, such as @MarioTeguhQuote and @AskMarioTeguh which have both enjoyed a boom in followers. Fans also created a Facebook page to encourage Mario to reopen his Twitter account, but it seems that the attempt has not yet succeeded.

An individual’s popularity can be greatly enhanced through the use of social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter. In Indonesia, the personal use of these social platforms is high; likewise for businesses in the country.

Given the huge enthusiasm of Indonesians for social media, hopefully it’ll be used to spread positive messages, instead of disturbing things such as terrorist threats.