UNS — Becoming a content creator known by many needs time. Bagas Ali Prasetyo, a sixth-semester student at Sociology Program Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, acts as a content creator in Instagram @helobagas, YouTube, and Spotify.
Helo Bagas is a well-known name among Indonesian youth through his Cerita Sebelum Tidur (Bed Time Story) on YouTube and Kita dan Waktu (We are and Time) podcast in Spotify. His channel has 519 followers on Instagram and 562 thousand subscribers on YouTube. His focus study in sociology does not stop him from creating works in literature and arts. Though sociology is not a favorite program among the Indonesian community, unlike Medical Science, the young creator selected the program because he has a high score in the subject and won many competitions regarding sociology.
“It makes me think, Sociology is fun, Sociology is not hard. Then I tried. At first, I wanted to study English Literature or Indonesian Literature in UI. I made a wallpaper (of this dream). But it seems like God doesn’t want to give it to me. Even though I could try the following year again, but I don’t want to waste my time,” he explained. At last, Bagas was accepted into Sociology Program through SBMPTN 2018 after putting the program as his second choice. He explained that talking about humans and their interactions gave him inspiration for his writing.
The boy who grew up with bullying from his friends proved that to be someone influential, someone doesn’t need to study at the favorite programs. Discussing more on his childhood, Bagas shared how bullying is coming from his friends, surroundings, and even his teacher, who thinks that writing is feminine stuff. The hurtful remarks were also directed to his mom, who often heard negative comments from his neighbors.
“When my mom attended an arisan, there is a neighbor who said it is impossible for Bagas to study at university; the university is expensive. Bagas would not become anything, a crybaby, bad at sport, not so bright at school, antisocial among his peers, a quiet person like that cannot become anything,” Bagas remembered.
Rise Through Writing
Bagas build up his writing career by uploading his works on the Wattpad platform. However, this effort did not automatically render positive responses from his surroundings. His friends commented that his writing was trash, which makes the young writer felt down. But the young content writer also used the negative comment to build himself up. He went to the bookstore he asked himself, “Do you still want to put your book in these bookshelves? Do you still want your book to be in the best seller line?” to which, he answered, he still wants to. “Then I need to keep writing,” he said.
Bagas then changed his account name with a pseudonym, ‘Adaptasi’, which grabbed his friend’s attention to the point they asked him to read his writing. “If you want your writing to be good, you need to read this,” they said to him. At last, his writing started to win the Wattpad algorithm and become a recommended content. His works are also featured in his school wall magazine. After observing how other writers have millions of readers, Bagas started to think that he couldn’t develop further if he stayed in Wattpad. “Then I tried to post on Instagram,” he explained.
Turning Point
Bagas’ Instagram account, @helobagas, was created on 1 July 2017 and now has 519 thousand followers. Bagas started to feel his turning point when he wrote his book, but he thinks it is not enough as the next turning point for him was having his podcast entering an exclusive line in Spotify. His Cerita Sebelum Tidur also become a good content. People started to recommend his content to others through TikTok. “When they feel afraid or worried, they recommend listening to my podcast,” he said.
Bagas has a principle that his works are to spread as many positive impacts to people and not focused on the money he could collect. From this impact, he learns Helo Bagas’ position in the market, and he wants to use it as best as he could because he realized that it might not be as popular one day. “Maybe in 2025, Helo Bagas will not be as popular as now and isn’t as well-known. That’s why I want to continue improving it, to use the highlight my best, because if the highlight was out, no matter how good my content, people won’t see it anymore,” he said.
Parents’ Role
In building his career, Bagas has a support system that continues supporting him, his parents, and his High School teacher, Pak Aswin. Bagas said that his parents made him into a good person and never asked him to be someone big. “Mom always said, if I meet people, greet them, asked how they are, what they’ve been through. This is what makes ‘good person’ appear a lot in my podcast. Mom never asked me to be a doctor, civil servant, or this or that; it is enough that I become a person that I line,” Bagas explained.
His father, Bagas said, is someone who likes to talk about life with him. Through their conversations, Bagas created writing on life that doesn’t stop at romantic affairs. He realized that outside there, many people do not have friends to share their feeling. Bagas is grateful that he could share with his friends and parents. “That’s why I want to be there for them, even virtually. My parents are my greatest motivation, and they don’t want something to happen to me. Every time I wrote about sadness, they always asked, are you okay?” he said.
Another support system for Bagas is his Sociology teacher at high school, Pak Aswin, who taught him to edit, encourage him to compete in short movie competitions as a scriptwriter, and video editing skills. “Without him, I will not have my editing skill. He is like my role model,” Bagas said.
Growing Motivation
Many people think Bagas sacrifice a lot of things. Born from a financially disadvantaged family, Bagas wants to be like his friends who could afford what they want. He rarely got a gift for being the first in class, only his parents’ praise that builds him into the strong person he is now. “My father was construction laborers, and mom helped neighbors to iron and other stuff. That’s why I want to be something for them,” the young content writer said.
Moving to Solo, Bagas brought the hurtful comments he grew up with but learned to turn them into motivation. From Bagas cannot be anything into Bagas can be anything he wants. Regarding how his works could disturb other people’s algorithms with rapid development and ranked in Best Three, Bagas said he has unique stories that other people don’t have.
“Being a construction laborer is very hard. I once tried to lift a sack of semen up like my father did every day, and it didn’t earn much money; it was exhausting. Now, I only recorded my voice and got paid with a lot of money. This could stop people’s negative opinion, including a friend who said my work is trash,” he said.
Words of Encouragement
Sadness is like happiness. Bagas stated that sometimes when people think it is hard for them to be happy, they keep too much pain in their heart and can’t let it out. “If we can laugh, we should be able to cry,” he said. “When you’re overthinking or insecure with what others achieve, I believe what my mom said that life is just once and can’t be repeated. So, whatever happened, we need to feel it,” he added.
Message
“Do what you like because it will become energy or a source of unending energy. Do not be afraid with the process or starting because the scariest thing is to start. If we start from zero, we could estimate in two or ten years what we could do. But if we stay scared, we will be nowhere,” Bagas reminded.
To be a great person, Bagas said, starting from the first step. So, everybody should be brave, be themselves, because staying true is better and more likable while copying others only bring difficulties. “Like, this is not me,” he explained. Humas UNS
Reporter: Bayu Aji Prasetya
Editor: Dwi Hastuti