Participatory Culture as an Activism Towards Cultural Issue (A Virtual Ethnographic Study of Participation by Followers of the Instagram Account @Remajanusantara_ in the Wastra Campaign)

Prajnadiva Maheswari Wisantoko, Novi Kurnia, M.Si., M.A., Ph.D.

2024 | Skripsi | Ilmu Komunikasi

The emergence of new media, such as social media, offers connectivity and interactivity for its users. This changes the nature of the audience from initially passive (consumers) to active, allowing them to become both producers and consumers of messages. Technology that supports various forms of interactivity and two-way communication encourages forming a culture of participation. This creates multiple cultures of participation, including audience participation in social campaign movements created on Instagram. One of them is the wastra campaign movement initiated by the Remaja Nusantara cultural community account, which aims to restore the use of wastra among young people in Indonesia by inviting the public to post photos of themselves using wastra and include campaign hashtags such as #BerkainGembira, #IndonesiaBerkain, and #BerkainBersama. This research aims to analyze the new reality created and this campaign's emerging cultural values and practices. This research uses qualitative methods with a virtual ethnographic approach and Cyber Media Analysis techniques from Rulli Nasrullah. Data was collected through observation and interviews with five informants. The research results show that the culture of participation in Instagram user activities is identified in four forms: affiliation, expression, collaborative problem-solving, and circulation. Affiliate participation is formed by using hashtags and following the @Remajanusantara_ account so that it does not indicate active affiliation. Expression is seen in photo or video uploads with different themes, while collaborative problem-solving appears in discussions and content collaboration. Circulation participation is seen in disseminating content from Instagram to other social media. Furthermore, the participatory culture that emerged in this situation also shows the formation of digital activism through awareness and mobilization.

The emergence of new media, such as social media, offers connectivity and interactivity for its users. This changes the nature of the audience from initially passive (consumers) to active, allowing them to become both producers and consumers of messages. Technology that supports various forms of interactivity and two-way communication encourages forming a culture of participation. This creates multiple cultures of participation, including audience participation in social campaign movements created on Instagram. One of them is the wastra campaign movement initiated by the Remaja Nusantara cultural community account, which aims to restore the use of wastra among young people in Indonesia by inviting the public to post photos of themselves using wastra and include campaign hashtags such as #BerkainGembira, #IndonesiaBerkain, and #BerkainBersama. This research aims to analyze the new reality created and this campaign's emerging cultural values and practices. This research uses qualitative methods with a virtual ethnographic approach and Cyber Media Analysis techniques from Rulli Nasrullah. Data was collected through observation and interviews with five informants. The research results show that the culture of participation in Instagram user activities is identified in four forms: affiliation, expression, collaborative problem-solving, and circulation. Affiliate participation is formed by using hashtags and following the @Remajanusantara_ account so that it does not indicate active affiliation. Expression is seen in photo or video uploads with different themes, while collaborative problem-solving appears in discussions and content collaboration. Circulation participation is seen in disseminating content from Instagram to other social media. Furthermore, the participatory culture that emerged in this situation also shows the formation of digital activism through awareness and mobilization.

Kata Kunci : #BerkainGembira, Digital Activism, Participatory Culture, Wastra Campaign