Mediasi Ibu Bekerja terhadap Risiko Daring Anak di Balik Algoritma Rekomendasi YouTube (Studi kasus di Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta Februari-Mei 2026)

Nabilah Munsyarihah, Novi Kurnia, M.Si., M.A., Ph.D.

2026 | Tesis | S2 Ilmu Komunikasi

Penelitian ini mengkaji bagaimana ibu bekerja kelas menengah terdidik di Yogyakarta memediasi risiko daring anak dalam ekosistem algoritma YouTube. Terdapat banyak studi mengenai mediasi orang tua terhadap penggunaan media digital anak, tetapi belum tereksplorasi secara mendalam tentang mediasi ibu bekerja dalam mengelola risiko di balik algoritma rekomendasi. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode studi kasus. Data dikumpulkan melalui wawancara semi-terstruktur, observasi partisipatif dengan menelusuri (walkthrough) aplikasi YouTube dan verbalisasi pikiran (think aloud), serta dokumentasi. Data kemudian diolah dengan transkrip kemudian dianalisis dengan proses koding dan rekap tema menggunakan aplikasi spreadsheet. Penelitian ini menghasilkan lima temuan utama. Pertama, ibu merespons algoritma bukan sebagaimana sistem itu bekerja secara teknis, melainkan melalui imajinasi algoritma berupa konstruksi kognitif yang menggerakkan praktik mediasi. Kedua, persepsi ibu terhadap risiko daring bukan merupakan sesuatu yang statis melainkan dinamis, mengalir bersama algoritma rekomendasi dan perilaku pengguna anak sehingga bentuknya terus berubah seiring waktu. Ketiga, sikap ibu terhadap YouTube terpilah ke dalam tiga kategori sikap yaitu netral, skeptis, dan kritis. Keempat, penelitian ini mengidentifikasi varian baru mediasi yang disebut mediasi algoritma, yaitu ibu memiliki kesadaran untuk memengaruhi atau mengelola logika rekomendasi YouTube secara aktif, bukan sekadar merespons konten yang muncul. Kelima, latar belakang profesional ibu, kondisi ibu bekerja yang meliputi kelelahan, rasa bersalah, keterbatasan waktu merupakan faktor penjelas yang secara signifikan membentuk kapasitas, bentuk, dan intensitas mediasi yang dilakukan. Bagi ibu bekerja kelas menengah terdidik yang memiliki kapasitas mediasi, negosiasi terhadap algoritma tidak pernah menghasilkan sesuatu yang pasti karena adaptasi algoritma yang cepat dan agresif. Kontribusi penelitian ini adalah mengisi celah literatur mengenai negosiasi tiada henti mediasi orang tua terhadap algoritma, khususnya bagi ibu bekerja di Indonesia.

This study examines how educated middle-class working mothers in Yogyakarta mediate children's online risks within YouTube's algorithmic ecosystem. Many studies exist on parental mediation of children's digital media use, but the mediation of working mothers in managing risks behind recommendation algorithms remains underexplored. This study uses a case study method. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, participatory observation by conducting walkthroughs of the YouTube application and think-aloud verbalization, as well as documentation. The data were then processed through transcription and analyzed through a coding process and thematic recap using spreadsheet software. This study yields five main findings. First, mothers respond to the algorithm not as the system technically works, but through algorithmic imagination in the form of a cognitive construction that drives mediation practices. Second, mothers' perception of online risk is not static but dynamic, flowing along with the recommendation algorithm and children users' behavior such that its form continuously changes over time. Third, mothers' attitudes toward YouTube are sorted into three attitude categories: neutral, skeptical, and critical. Fourth, this study identifies a new variant of mediation called algorithmic mediation, in which mothers possess the awareness to actively influence or manage the logic of YouTube's recommendations, rather than merely responding to content that appears. Fifth, mothers' professional backgrounds and their conditions as working mothers, which include exhaustion, guilt, and time constraints, are explanatory factors that significantly shape the capacity, form, and intensity of the mediation carried out. For educated middle-class working mothers who possess mediation capacity, negotiation with the algorithm never produces anything certain, due to the algorithm's fast and aggressive adaptation. This study's contribution is to fill a literature gap regarding the unending negotiation of parental mediation against algorithms, particularly for working mothers in Indonesia.

Kata Kunci : Mediasi, ibu bekerja, risiko daring anak, algoritma rekomendasi, YouTube