Indonesia has long been known as one of the most active Facebook and Twitter nations, but more recently Instagram has become the social media platform of choice for many young Indonesians. Some of the platform’s most prolific users are female Islamic activists who are keen to utilize social media as novel tools for proselytisation (or da’wa).

Why do female activists choose social media such as Instagram for their activism? How they utilise the visual tools available to them? And how does their activism differ from conventional da’wa?

In this Talking Indonesia episode, Dirk Tomsa discusses these and other questions with Dr Annisa Beta, a Lecturer in Cultural Studies at the University of Melbourne’s School of Culture and Communication.

In 2020, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Jemma Purdey from the Australia-Indonesia Centre, Dr Dave McRae from the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute, Dr Charlotte Setijadi from the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore and Dr Dirk Tomsa from La Trobe University.

Look out for a new Talking Indonesia podcast every fortnight. Catch up on previous episodes here, subscribe via iTunes or listen via your favourite podcasting app.

Image: Annisa Beta