Indonesia Trends Bittersweet Today: Floods, Football Grip the Twittersphere

What’s hot on Twitter in Indonesia today? Support. But for a number of different causes. There are two topics caught the public’s attention today.

One is SUPPORT TIMNAS INDONESIA, an expression of support from football fans to the Indonesian National Team. They are taking over the Twitterverse as Indonesia hosts Turkmenistan this afternoon in Jakarta for the second leg of 2014 World Cup qualification.

Proud Indonesians are showing so much support on Twitter that this became one of the trending topics not just locally but even worldwide. Interestingly enough, since Indonesia hasn’t qualified for the World Cup since 1938, it has never even reached as far as the quarter finals. Nevertheless, it hasn’t stopped Indonesians from getting behind their team as it fights to qualify.

But Indonesians are also keeping an eye to more serious news, as the other topic that’s very active right now is #PrayForSouthKorea. The breaking news today about the floods and mudslides after heavy rain in South Korea has caught everyone’s attention, but Indonesia appears particularly concerned as the topic is trending locally, but not worldwide.

Most tweets are from Indonesian teens and Indonesian-based South Korean fan clubs, who are concerned about their favorite Korean artists. They’re sharing information and prayers using the afore-mentioned hashtag. People are also sharing photos on Twitter and Facebook, and the support continues to pour out even now.

The flood in Seoul, South Korea. Image courtesy of Time.com

The Philippines also is suffering a similar disaster, and you can see the hashtag #prayForPhilippines in a number of conversations on Twitter as well. We saw the same kind of reaction when Japan was hit by the massive earthquake and tsunami earlier this year, as people used social media to show support and spread news of relief efforts.