SP/Edi Hardum – Jakarta Govenor Joko Widodo is the most talked-about Indonesian political figure on social media, according to a new study by Prapancha Research, a private group recently founded by PR analyst Rendy Mahesa.

Deputy Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, State Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan, former Constitutional Court chief Mahfud MD and Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan populated the remainder of the top-five list.

Prapancha conducted the research between August 10 and August 17, based on 230,000 online mentions. Joko and Basuki far surpassed the other candidates in both frequency and positivity of mentions.

"Basuki's firm statements on government policy are reaping positive responses from the accounts of randomly selected youth," Rendy said. Basuki saw a popularity surge after his recent statements regarding street hawkers, he added. Joko has long been a constant source of social media buzz.

Joko and Basuki received 105,000 and 58,000 respective positive mentions, Rendy said. Dahlan netted 28,000, many of which were unrelated to his official capacity. Mahfud and Gita were mentioned 10,000 times and 8,537 times respectively, Mahfud received positive recognition for his experience in the legal sector, and Gita received mentions mostly in reference to his position as chairman of the All Indonesia Badminton Association.

"The idea which is dominating and spreading fast is that what Joko and Basuki are working for the sake of the public," Rendy said. "People, especially youth, tend to treat this pair as real leaders or heroes."

Rendy predicted that these trends would hold fast, for the most part. He did provide a margin of error for the research.