About

Hi, I’m Tina Latief.

I’m a writer based in Indonesia and live in Jakarta (when I’m working) and Yogyakarta (when I’m not working).

I study political sociology with a research interest in the evolving intersection between civil society and technology with a focus on the social movement in the internet era. I interested in how people engage in civic action by exploiting the full potential of technology and make it a powerful ally to foster and strengthen civil society.

In 2015, I conducted a qualitative analysis to uncover how civil society promotes transparency using technology in the 2014 Indonesia presidential election. I made a research about Kawal Pemilu (kawalpemilu.org), a website that guards the vote-counting process following the National Election Commission’s decision to upload voting results to its official government website. My research found, where governmental services do not or can not meet all the needs of constituents, Kawal Pemilu as the civil society organizations endeavor to fill the gaps. In 2014, Kawal Pemilu demonstrates the importance of civil society in sustaining vibrant communities — both within and across borders in promoting transparency.

In relation to that, I care about media literacy. I mean, the modern version of what has been called “media literacy”. As we know that in the 21st century, we enter the era of democratized media where almost anyone can publish and find almost anything that others have published. Now, information can come at us from almost everywhere and from anyone. In another word, it creates information abundance.

Information abundance can lead to information confusion because not all information is equal. That’s why being passive receivers of news and information is no longer adequate in this new century’s Digital Age mediasphere. Since we lived in democratized media, participation is vital. We must learn to use media by becoming active participants in the way we consume and create our own trusted information. So, here through every platform of media social that I have, I help to promote to become an active user of media with the hope that I and everybody else could make informed judgments about the significance of what we see.

Besides media, my project encompasses the field of education, water sanitation, and economic. In 2013, I founded Bangun Desa, an empowerment program for rural communities that focus on helping solve people’s problems using a community-based approach. In 2017, I joined a research team to design the system of water supply and sanitation technology in Sujung, Banten. You can read the output in Ijaseat Journal.

This blog is my personal space to pour everything that comes in mind, to have fun and be creative. I used to write many topics I deeply care such as travel tales, media, and technology or just some random thoughts about my running activity. Oh, yes one more thing you should know about me is that I love running SO MUCH! When I go out for a run for a few miles, I feel happy and alive. If I don’t run for a few days, I really start to miss it. Running grow on me.

If you want to join me, I would be very happy. I usually spend my spare time running in the Jakarta neighborhood.