Bachelor thesis | South and Southeast Asian Studies (BA)
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Social media has been able to develop itself as a necessity into the lives of Indonesian users for the past decade. There are different factors that contribute to the popularity of social media...Show moreSocial media has been able to develop itself as a necessity into the lives of Indonesian users for the past decade. There are different factors that contribute to the popularity of social media usage in Indonesia. The most important motive behind remains the wide accessibility of mobile internet devices. Social media has been a main focal point for cultural exchanging and cultural expressions. It has shaped and created idealistic lifestyles, beauty perceptions, fashion trends and religious/educational resources are shared freely in a high pace. Especially on the social network application Instagram, visual representations are easily being shared using photographic posts. Along with the impact of globalization, Indonesian Instagram users are the interlinked and in direct involvement with the outer world. It cannot be denied that social media platforms strengthen the power of the active individual agent and that the social media application becomes an empowerment tool to the audience. Besides the evident benefits, social media has brought a series of negative effects to the Indonesian society as well. Ethical conflicts and moral violations of visual social media content have inflamed the debate on social media literacy education. Also, excessive monthly expenditures are a result of the problematic high consumer culture that circulates on Instagram. Especially the most dominant group users –Indonesian youngsters– seem to be the most vulnerable group for these online complications. It is therefore of the interest to highlight how the Indonesian youth approaches and practice social media applications. This paper explores cultural Indonesian youth studies further on virtual terrain, with its focus on the photo-sharing application Instagram.Show less
