UNS — University students have diverse channels to work, which is not limited to the academic field. Students could explore other areas such as sports, arts, and technology, just like Bagas Ali Prasetyo, Sociology Program student, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, do.
Bagas Ali Prasetyo, known as Helo Bagas, is a sixth-semester student who has created tens of social media content on Instagram, YouTube, and Spotify. His Instagram followers have reached 519 thousand people, 562 thousand people subscribe to his YouTube, and his podcasts listened to tens of thousand times. uns.ac.id has an opportunity to talk with @helobagas Instagram account.
The Starting Point
Bagas started his career as a Wattpad writer since he entered the 11th grade at Senior High School. He likes the Indonesian language course since his Junior High School (SMP) years and represented his school in a short story writing competition, which he won. Entering his Senior, the Wattpad platform was booming among the high schoolers. Bagas started to be a reader on the platform after a friend suggested a story from the forum for him to read. After reading for a year, he braced himself to start writing his own story on the platform.
However, challenge after challenges came. Bagas understands the hardship of reaching readers. Even his closest friends seem uninterested in reading his works and called his work trash. “When I asked how was my story, they said my story is trash, even the cover; they called it trash,” Bagas said. Bagas remembers those comments to this day, but he uses those memories to hone his skill better. “When I’m feeling down, I went to the bookstore and saw the bookshelves. I asked myself, do I still want to put my the published book there? Do I still want my book to be in the bestseller line? And the answer was, I want, so I keep writing,” he said to himself.
After continue writing for a while, the Wattpad algorithm finally recognized his works and recommended his works every week. After solidifying his presence in Wattpad, the young writer spread his wings to Instagram, started with video reels, which gained positive responses from his followers. His Instagram account, @helobagas, was created on 1 July 2017 and grew rapidly after SBMPTN 2018 until it has 519 thousand followers. Success with Instagram, the young author, again spread his wings and enter the giant video sharing platform, YouTube.
Challenges came but never stopped him. The last platform he entered is Spotify with his podcasts which now sit among Spotify exclusive podcast lists. His luck in Spotify was satisfying. With his first episode, Bagas successfully joined the Top 20. “Even though I am not a public figure, but I have voice quality that does not fall far behind them. I also have competitive skills. Finally, I was invited to collaborate with Spotify Indonesia,” he explained.
Works
Bagas works have been watched and listened to by millions of people on three different platforms. He also wrote three books and is going through the process of publishing his fourth book. His works that is waited by his viewers are Cerita Sebelum Tidur (Bed Time Story) and Kita dan Waktu (We and the Time) podcast. There is a unique story of his podcast name, Kita dan Waktu. Bagas’ journey in Solo inspired the name. He said that he likes to meet his friends around the city for student association meetings or doing assignments. His trip from the hostel to the town, through the main street, Slamet Riyadi, Laweyan, and his friend’s houses gave him a thought that the city has strong attractions. That was when he started to document random stuff around Slamet Riyadi street in a poem and uploaded it to Instagram. The poem received positive attention, and his reader encouraged him to read the poem in a video.
“Then I tried to read it out because ‘We’ is general. It could be ourselves, people we love, because Kita dan Waktu mainly talks about love,” Bagas explained. “Time is the continuously moving time. So, Kita dan Waktu is our journey with other people with different times; each journey we make with other people has its own story,” he added.
His Cerita Sebelum Tidur content was created to make people move from viewing vlogs or listening to a song before they go sleep. “The story tends to be my personal story, but at the ends, it becomes people’s friends to be watched,” Bagas said.
Consistency in Work
Bagas’ consistency in creating work is worthy of praise. Bagas has created hundreds of works since his Wattpad days. Currently, he is not alone in creating his content. Bagas received helps from his closest friends. To create his content, Bagas needs ideas, which he got from reading, and contemplating what the world needs. He also gets the idea from songs and observing people. “I often walk around, taking MRT alone, to JPO Setia Budi observing people. Then I let what idea comes when I am alone,” he said.
He documented all the feelings that come through pictures and keywords that will be developed into a script. He believes that good work came from restlessness. “Because what we feel, there is a communal feeling that other people might not feel. The feeling of, oh, I am so alone, but it turns out to be felt by many others.”
Hopes
At the end of the interview, Bagas shared his expectations. He hoped that he could share more things and continue learning. He also hoped to be a better listener, love himself more, and not pushing himself too hard. “For Helo Bagas, I hope it could become a bigger account and help more people. I wish I could have a bigger room and has a community that involves psychologists, psychiatrists, or leading experts,” he concluded. Humas UNS
Reporter: Bayu Aji Prasetya
Editor: Dwi Hastuti