Abstract
This study aims to understand how the phenomenon of citizen journalism on social media contributes to shaping the digital public sphere through the perspective of Jürgen Habermas. The research analyzes five social media accounts in Indonesia, MP, MN, BW, JI, and EM, using digital ethnography as a representation of citizen participation in producing and disseminating public information. The analysis shows that social media creates new spaces for discussion, enabling citizens to engage actively with social, environmental, and political issues, and potentially achieve forms of public consensus. However, the consensus generated is often temporary and influenced by algorithmic dynamics, economic interests, and platform control. In the Indonesian context, this phenomenon reveals a tension between grassroots movements that are organic in nature and interests that are commercial or political. Drawing on Habermas’s views on the public sphere and communicative rationality, this study emphasizes that citizen journalism has the potential to strengthen deliberative democracy in the digital era, while also facing serious challenges related to disinformation, echo chambers, and the commodification of information.
Presenters
Rio Prawira OctavieriStudent, Master Degree of Communication, University of Indonesia, Jakarta Raya, Indonesia
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Citizen Journalism, Social Media, Public Sphere
