DimS-RG — When Abdul Haris Agam, a mountain rescue guide known as “Agam Rinjani”, descended 590 meters into a ravine on Mount Rinjani to retrieve the body of Brazilian tourist Juliana Marins in June 2025, he expected to do his job quietly and go home. What he never expected was to become a global phenomenon overnight.
Within seven days, his Instagram followers surged from 13,000 to 1.5 million. Brazilian netizens raised over US$1.5 million in donations. Major media outlets, including Globo and Folha de SĂŁo Paulo, called him a national hero for Brazil. And none of this required a government campaign, a public relations agency, or diplomatic coordination.
How does something like this happen? A new study from Universitas Hasanuddin, Indonesia, offers a compelling answer.
Researcher Dr. Alem Febri Sonni analyzed 18 news articles from four major Indonesian outlets, Kompas.com, Detik.com, CNN Indonesia, and Tempo.co, alongside Instagram engagement data tracked between June 21–30, 2025. The findings reveal a remarkable three-act story.
Act One: Backlash
As the rescue operation began, Indonesian authorities faced intense criticism online. Brazilian users flooded social media with comments like “Why is SAR so slow?” and “Is this the best Indonesia can do for a tourist?” Global sentiment reached 72% negative, with Indonesian national pride openly questioned by an international audience.
Act Two: A Human Moment Changes Everything
The turning point came on June 25, when Agam livestreamed the body evacuation and broke down in tears, saying, “Sorry I couldn’t bring Juliana home safely.” That single moment of raw, unfiltered vulnerability flipped international opinion within 48 hours. Mentions of “He did everything possible” surged to 2,341 among Brazilian users, while overall positive sentiment climbed to 65%.
Act Three: International Celebration
By June 26–30, the narrative had completely transformed. Donations poured in through a Brazilian online platform, with 98% of contributions coming from Brazilian users. Followers kept climbing. International media celebrated Agam not just as a skilled guide, but as a symbol of compassion and selfless service to a stranger from the other side of the world.
Vernacular Digital Heroism: A New Concept
The study introduces the concept of “vernacular digital heroism”, the idea that culturally specific values, like Indonesia’s gotong royong (collective responsibility), can travel across the internet and resonate deeply with audiences on the other side of the world, without institutional mediation or strategic diplomacy.
This case directly embodies Sustainable Development Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals, which calls for building global partnerships grounded in solidarity, mutual respect, and shared humanity. The Agam Rinjani story proves that authentic storytelling can forge cross-cultural bridges — between Indonesia and Brazil, between a mountain guide and millions of strangers — that formal diplomacy often struggles to create. For nations in the Global South, the lesson is clear: you don’t need massive budgets or Western media access to earn international goodwill. Authentic human moments, documented in real time, can build global partnerships that last far beyond a single viral story.
Article Metadata
Article Title : Digital Heroism in Indonesian Media: Cross-Cultural Solidarity and Viral Narrative Transformation
Journal Name : Social Sciences & Humanities Open
Publisher : Elsevier Ltd. (Published under CC BY 4.0 Open Access)
Published Date : December 1, 2025 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2025.102295
Author : Alem Febri Sonni, Universitas Hasanuddin, Indonesia
