Disseminating health-related information across Indonesia during COVID-19 becomes more challenging due to fake news surrounding the pandemic and unequal educational attainment levels among the country's more than 270 million people.

However, using simple language could help the public better understand pandemic-era social media messaging, according to an Indonesian government spokesperson for the country's COVID-19 response.

Health influencer

During the HIMSS22 APAC session, "Social Media – Mastering Communication in the Digital Age" on Wednesday last week, Dr Reisa Broto Asmoro spoke about the importance of social media messaging throughout the pandemic in the country.

As a health influencer herself, Dr Broto Asmoro has been engaging the Indonesian public through various social media platforms popular in the country. She has more than 2.1 million Instagram followers, more than 130,000 followers on TikTok and more than 45,000 YouTube subscribers.

She has discussed a wide range of health-related topics – from monkeypox in Indonesia to health protocols for domestic travellers amid COVID-19 – through her various social media posts. 

Fake news

Citing Indonesia's Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Dr Broto Asmoro said there had been more than 5,000 pandemic-related hoaxes in a year circulating in Southeast Asia's largest population. 

As a result, she made health-related social media infographics that were "easily accepted by the society, by the people [with] less education".

Her efforts paid off as more experts stepped up to help raise public awareness. 

"Everything has changed. [A] lot of doctors, especially the younger generation, and other health workers are sharing their knowledge through social media," she said. 

The Indonesian government also debunks such hoaxes online on the Hoax Buster page. Like other countries in the region, Indonesia is not immune to fake news items, including COVID-19 remedies to vaccines. 

Simple messaging

Dr Broto Asmoro has also used a more grounded approach to getting the message across to the Indonesian public.

"I use general communication, I use simple languages that most [of the] society understand[s]," she said. 

In Indonesia, there is a "3M" slogan that calls for the public to wear their masks, wash their hands and socially distance themselves during COVID-19. 

"3M is a very, very simple and accepted by all the society," she said.

"No matter how hard you work, no matter [how] great your work is, if other people [do not] know [it], it's pointless.

"So the best thing that you can do is try to communicate in a certain way that other [people] will acknowledge."