Theo Cavin Yudianto

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When I started living in Shanghai 2 years ago I was surprised with the scale of how cashless transactions have become such an integral part of people’s daily lives. It goes beyond simple mall shopping or dinner at restaurants: people now put up QR code signs of WeChat Pay and Alipay for even for traditional grocery shopping, biking around or even a street music performance! How crazy is that?
Looking back at those days, I can’t help but comparing it at my own home country. Recently, cashless society movement started gaining attention with Go-Pay (owned by Gojek) and OVO competing for Indonesian market share. Various campaigns have been done to attract attention: accumulative points, shopping discounts, and many more. However, are Indonesians ready for this transformation?

-Strong Cash-

According to The G4S World Cash Report, cash circulation from 2012 to 2016 in Indonesia showed significant growth of 53.1%, at IDR 2,353 trillion. This is understandable: cash system has people’s trust, doesn’t depend on battery life, and requires no technology knowledge and costly smartphones (a “luxury” that so many people in Indonesia don’t own).

-Infrastructure is (Still) Not Ready-

There are many infrastructural problems which come along the efforts to “familiarize” cashless system in Indonesia. Smartphone penetration in Indonesia last year was 47% compared to 79% in China. The cases about some Grab (OVO’s partner) drivers rejecting mobile payments, top-up problems or people stuck in parking basement because OVO has compatibility problems with ticket machine don’t help the case either. This leads to lower trust towards cashless system despite its bright promises.

-Conclusion-

Is the Indonesia ready to become a cashless society? The answer would be no. Not yet, but it’s there. Simply rushing things will not work. Its current hope is perhaps to grow current online shopping market, which is in a stable track already. Government also has an important role to pave the way, be it in terms of supportive regulations, socializing its people, or improving the technical infrastructure. Me? I’ll settle with bringing cash around, for the time being.

Source:

China Can’t Afford a Cashless Society

https://www.scmp.com/business/money/article/2155223/china-goes-increasingly-cashless-pboc-says-cash-payment-still-alive

https://keuangan.kontan.co.id/news/g4s-world-cash-report-uang-tunai-masih-dominasi-transaksi-keuangan-di-indonesia

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Behold the future. Wait, not really the future, since it is here already. Social media in itself has been our daily consumption. 13% annual growth of worldwide social media users shows that it will not go away soon. Add that number to the not-actually-so-new virtual reality (VR) technologies that have been raking up attention in recent years, we’ve got an emerging trend that will forever change how we interact with each other.

-For the Uninitiated-

Most people at some point would have heard of what it is. You can find many definitions on the internet, but most of them would always translate to something like this: “a computer-generated environment that humans can perceive as their own reality and interact with”. Although the technology has been here for quite some time, it has just been picking up steam since the 2010s as big tech companies produced commercial VR headsets like the Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR. Nowadays, VR is used mainly for gaming and cinema, though other uses for it are found in healthcare, robotic science and even military.

-Integrating VR with Social Media: The Future-

Some of the more well-known VR social networks like vTime, Rec Room, and Facebook Spaces (although those cannot be called real VR social media for now, not yet), offer not only the “experience”, but also insights on how VR technology could shape the future of social media.

While it is not yet taking off, the “big players” are serious in racing to become the first in dominating the future market. The signs are there. In 2016, after purchasing the Oculus, Facebook invested $250 millions more into developing VR applications. Last April, a UK-based VR social network vTime succeeded in amassing $7.6 million for its newest project.

This is not without reasons. The existence of VR social media will impact much of online sectors: gaming industries, online dating, and even business marketing. Not to mention businesses will be more than eager to join in the fun. Future lower entry costs for customers mean potential of bigger banks of personal data. This is something that no business will ignore.

-Not Now, but Later for Sure-

The development of VR technology reaches the point where it is impossible to separate it from future social media uses. Although it is not without its obstacles (new social ethics, privacy problems, and health concerns), people are ready to leave their tedious lives and businesses are ready to explore new market opportunities. We are at the last step, but the question is: are you ready?

Sources:

Global social media research summary 2018

https://www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality/beginning.html

Top Five VR Social Experiences

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2016/03/17/facebook-virtual-reality-vr-and-the-future-of-social-networks/#43ccccf9716a
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vr-social-network-vtime-closes-76-million-series-a-funding-round-679378133.html
https://www.forbes.com/sites/paullamkin/2017/11/30/virtual-reality-headset-sales-hit-1-million/#7c2458ae2b61

How virtual reality and social media is impacting advertising

https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/new-world-digital-dating-will-make-swipe-right-seem-quaint-ncna824511
http://theconversation.com/looking-into-their-computer-generated-eyes-dating-in-virtual-reality-84838

The Convergence of Virtual Reality and Social Media: What Legal Issues May Arise?

https://resources.infosecinstitute.com/5-social-media-site-privacy-issues-worry/#gref

10 ethical concerns that will shape the VR industry

https://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/13/health/virtual-reality-vr-dangers-safety/index.html

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