The rapidly growing media industry has given rise to various phenomena that grab public attention, including a child's game that has become popular lately, called lato-lato. This game involves two small balls that are swung together.


Since going viral, lato-lato has become a widely known game. According to sources, lato-lato originated from the United States under the name clackers. In Indonesia, similar traditional games are known by various names, such as lato-lato in the Bugis language and kato-kato in Sulawesi, as well as tek-tek in Java.


Although lato-lato is just a common game for children, some people associate it with different things. In Indonesia, some communities still believe in the traditional practice of predicting the future based on signs found in nature. Therefore, any phenomenon that is being talked about tends to be analyzed based on issues such as economic stability, politics, social issues, or leadership. For example, people in villages often link certain phenomena to leadership succession.


When natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions occur, people often associate them with signs of an impending fall of a leader or a leader who is facing heavy responsibility. In some places, people are asked to install traditional klenengan (bell) made from used glass bottles filled with pebbles and bamboo. People from older generations also mentioned that there was a prediction of the coming of "buta ijo", who is a symbolic representation of a big figure that will soon fall. It turned out that it referred to the fall of the Orde Baru regime.



The game of lato-lato is also not immune to community analysis. Some people associate it with a phenomenon that attracts attention at the end of the year before the new year, namely the competition among regional leaders to claim the RI 1 title. The way that lato-lato is played, where the two balls are swung up and down, is seen to have a meaning that soon there will be fierce competition, conflict, increased emotional tension, and heat, just like the game itself. But whether this is just an analysis or actually a sign, remains a subject of debate.


Since ancient times, people have always linked something with natural signs, whether those are indicators of social nature or indications caused by animals coming down from mountains, tidal waves, gusts of wind, dead trees, stranded fish, flocks of birds flying in large numbers, and so on. However, in this digital era, phenomena can easily be created and go viral with just the word "viral".