The rise of artists and influencers promoting online gambling on social media, this is the response of UM Surabaya lecturers

• 07 Sep
• 2023

Foto Dosen UM Surabaya Radius Setiyawan (Humas)

The rise of artists and influencers promoting online gambling on social media, this is the response of UM Surabaya lecturers

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• By Uswah Sahal
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Media and Culture Studies Lecturer at Muhammadiyah University of Surabaya (UM Surabaya) Radius Setiyawan also provided comments regarding the many influencers involved in promoting online gambling on social media. Radius assesses that the role of influencers in marketing online gambling is very dangerous for society. This is because artists or influencers are often used as examples by their followers.

“Of course this is very dangerous, because what they say has the potential to influence the behavior patterns of followers. "It could be said that influencers are trend-setters for millennials and generation Z. With a large following, influencers have the potential to influence the behavior of many people on certain things," said Radius Thursday (7/9/23)

According to him, the large number of people who follow the lives of influencers is an indication that people live in vulnerability. People easily believe in images in cyberspace.

“In the era of speed of information like today, our brains are easily attacked by information from advertisements, social media, news and gossip. The human brain is very likely to be hacked, the result is deception," he said again.

According to him, what influencers promote in the case of online gambling is the image of getting rich in an instant way. As a result, people are easily obsessed and lose critical reasoning. He also said that the most dangerous thing is when people lose their critical reasoning, they will do anything to achieve their goals.

"When expectations do not match what is desired, new crimes will emerge, such as stealing, suicide attempts and severe depression," he added.

He also said that the large number of victims of online gambling was also caused by tough economic conditions. Tough economic conditions do not rule out the possibility that people will be easily tempted by the lure of an instant increase in funds or assets in the cyber world.

In addition, weak digital literacy also makes people easily deceived in the digital world. He advised the public that in the midst of a flood of information like now, people need to think reflectively. It means no longer see the world from the surface side only. All judgments, assumptions and prejudices must be postponed beforehand in order to gain qualified and in-depth knowledge.

"Today's technological speed tends to create superficiality which results in some people being easily deceived by something that is instantaneous," he stressed.

Finally, regarding the lack of financial literacy. According to him, many of the people still find it difficult to distinguish and even ignore it in terms of online trading or gambling.

Most of our people are still unfamiliar with the world of trading, online gambling. They easily invest just by following idolized influencers. In fact, in this context, special operational understanding is needed so that you are not easily trapped in fraudulent investments.