INJECT (Interdisciplinary Journal of Communication)

Gender Myth-Making in a Digital Beauty Campaign: Masculine Symbolism in the Somethinc x Batman Instagram Reels

Prita Eufho Anggraini — 2026-05-08

This study aims to analyze how feminine representations and the strength of Batman’s character are combined in Something’s beauty campaign, which was published via Instagram Reels videos. The approach used is a semiotic analysis based on Roland Barthes’ theory, which focuses on the meaning of signs and symbols in visual and verbal messages. This study examines how the soft, feminine image and Batman’s strong character complement each other to form a unique advertising message that captures the attention of a female audience. Data collection techniques include a literature review and observation of digital documents in the form of Somethinc x Batman campaign Reels videos taken from Somethinc’s official Instagram account. The data obtained was then analyzed using denotative significance, connotative significance, mythic revelation, and triangulation through the Expression, Relation, and Content (E-R-C) sign structure in Something’s Instagram Reels video content. The research findings indicate that the Something and Batman campaigns successfully created a more progressive and bold representation of femininity compared to conventional beauty advertisements. However, this representation remains a product of the commodification of heroism. The myth of strength constructed through the Batman character serves as a powerful emotional draw to attract modern female audiences, who yearn for agency and self-authority, yet are ultimately still directed to become consumer subjects within the 2025 digital beauty industry. Therefore, this study contributes to the understanding of the use of semiotics in digital marketing strategies that incorporate popular cultural symbols to influence consumer perceptions.

Analyzing Communication Strategies KPU Sergai Podcast as Digital Public Communication for Electoral Education

Yohana Yulianti Simbolon — 2026-05-11

This study examines the KPU Sergai Podcast as a digital public communication initiative for voter education. While podcasts offer potential to enhance political literacy through flexible and narrative-driven formats, their effectiveness in institutional contexts remains limited. This research employs a qualitative case study approach, integrating podcast analytics, content observation, and in-depth interviews to analyze how communication strategies are designed and implemented. The findings reveal that podcast performance remains suboptimal, as indicated by consistently low audience reach (fewer than 100 views per episode) and minimal engagement, including limited likes and the absence of comments and shares. These patterns suggest that the podcast has not succeeded in expanding its visibility or fostering interactive communication. Beyond descriptive results, the study identifies a structural communication problem. Internal constraints such as limited resources, lack of technical capacity, and restricted production quality shape content characteristics and distribution strategies, resulting in predominantly one-way communication and misalignment with audience preferences, particularly among younger users. The findings demonstrate a causal pathway in which these constraints lead to audience misalignment, low engagement, and passive audience behavior. This condition reflects a broader communication gap between the interactive potential of digital media and its practical implementation in governmental communication. This study contributes by offering an integrated analytical framework linking institutional capacity, content strategy, and audience engagement. Practically, it highlights the need for more interactive content, multi-platform distribution, and improved production quality to enhance digital public communication effectiveness.

Normalizing Online Gambling Through Multimodal Food and Beverage Advertising Imagery

Vivit Novita Axviarani — 2026-05-12

Online gambling advertisements have become increasingly prevalent across Indonesian social media platforms, although gambling is legally prohibited in Indonesia. These advertisements employ covert advertising strategies by masquerading as online gambling through familiar food and beverage imagery. Multimodal elements are utilized as a persuasive strategy to shape and normalize gambling practices. This study critically examines how multimodal elements are constructed in covert advertisements format and how these constructions contribute to the normalization of online gambling practices within Indonesian digital culture. The study demonstrates how multimodal elements operate as persuasive strategies in covert online gambling advertisements. Drawing upon Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA), the study analyzes three advertisements collected from the Meta Ads Library in 2025 that masquerade as Mie Sedaap (instant noodles), Potabee (snacks), and Sprite (soft drinks). The findings reveal two dominant normalization discourses. First, gambling is normalized as a familiar and risk-free consumption practice through symbolic associations with familiar food and beverage imagery. This process reflects a form of symbolic domestication, in which gambling is gradually relocated from a stigmatized and illegal activity into an ordinary and culturally familiar consumption practice. Second, gambling is normalized as an enjoyable and rewarding activity through promotional language emphasizing guaranteed winning and high financial profits, ultimately fostering an instant success fantasy. These findings contribute to critical discussions on covert advertising and online gambling normalization in Indonesia.

Supervisor-Subordinate Communication and Employee Performance: A Qualitative Case Study

Suryadi Wardiana — 2026-05-12

Supervisor-subordinate communication is widely recognized as an important factor in employee motivation and performance. However, many previous studies have examined communication mainly as a general organizational variable, with limited attention to the relational processes through which supervisory communication is interpreted and transformed into motivational and performance-related outcomes. This study examines supervisor-subordinate communication as a relational mechanism in a hierarchical workplace context. In this study, relational mechanism refers to recurring communicative processes through which supervisory messages are interpreted by subordinates as sources of clarity, inclusion, guidance, support, and coordination. Using a qualitative case study design at PT Modella, Indonesia, this study draws on semi-structured interviews, observation, and organizational documentation involving one leadership-level key informant and five employee informants from production, packing, administration, and sales divisions. Thematic analysis identified five relational communication processes: task clarification, dialogic participation, constructive feedback, emotional support, and cross-functional coordination. These processes shaped work motivation by strengthening role certainty, perceived appreciation, psychological safety, learning orientation, and self-confidence. They also contributed to perceived performance through clearer task execution, fewer work errors, faster problem solving, and smoother inter-divisional coordination. The study contributes to organizational communication scholarship by showing that supervisor-subordinate communication influences motivation and perceived performance not only through information transmission but also through employees’ relational interpretation of supervisory interaction. The findings should be understood within the limits of a single qualitative case study and perceived rather than objectively measured performance.

Social Work Practice and Communication for Girl Survivors of Sexual Violence: A Social Rehabilitation Perspective in Indonesia

Bambang Rustanto — 2026-05-15

Sexual violence against girls constitutes a serious violation of human rights, with profound physical, psychological, and social consequences that require comprehensive and sustained responses. Within this context, such violence is closely linked to gendered power relations and vulnerabilities shaping girl’s experiences and recovery processes. This study aims to examine social work practice and communication in social rehabilitation for girl survivors of sexual violence at a Handayani Jakarta Service Center in Indonesia. A qualitative phenomenological approach was employed, with data collected through in-depth interviews, observations, and document analysis involving five purposively selected informants, consisting of three social workers, one acting head of the center, and one administrative head; data were analyzed through reduction, display, and conclusion drawing. The findings indicate that social rehabilitation is implemented through stages including assessment, service planning, interventions across family, community, and residential settings, as well as monitoring and post-service support, with social workers performing on practice and communication within a survivor-centered approach. The study concludes that strengthening professional capacity, cross-sector coordination, and inclusive strategies is essential to support the sustainable recovery of girl survivors.

Research Trends of Family Communication in Caregiving Context: A Bibliometric Mapping From 2016 to 2025

Hanif Swastika — 2026-05-16

Despite the universal nature of family caregiving and its profound impact on family communication patterns and psychological well-being, this field remains fragmented across disciplines with limited theoretical integration and geographic disparities. This study addresses this gap by providing comprehensive landscape mapping of family communication and caregiving as an integrated field, rather than examining isolated contexts. This quantitative bibliometric analysis examines 421 Scopus-indexed articles (2016–2025) using keyword co-occurrence mapping to identify research trends in family caregiving communication by using VOSviewer software (threshold of 5 keywords). As the result, 106 keywords, 2.460 links, and 7.406 total link strength are categorized into six thematic clusters: (1) Child and Adolescent Development in Family Contexts, (2) Interpersonal Dynamics & Decision Making, (3) Social Support & Palliative Contexts, (4) Professional-Patient Interaction & Health Literacy, (5) Geriatric Caregiving & Illness Narratives, and (6) Digital Health, Migration & Crisis. The United States dominates research output (51.8%, n=218), with most prolific authors including Barkan, S.E. (n=3), Cooper, R.A. (n=3), and Goldsmith, J.V. (n=3). Meanwhile, 81% of publications originate from English-speaking countries, leaving substantial Global South populations underrepresented. While publication volume increased by 204% over the decade, with 54% (228 articles) published after 2022, analysis reveals structural asymmetries. Dementia research comprises 24% of occurrences, overshadowing emerging domains like transnational caregiving that demonstrate high citation impact. Findings are interpreted through Family Systems Theory, Relational Dialectic Theory, and Communication Privacy Management. This map identifies a critical geographic-intellectual divide and argues for a shift toward locally-grounded, longitudinal research, serving as a strategic guide for scholars and policymakers to bridge fragmented research communities and prioritize underserved caregiving settings.

Seeing Culture Through Space: How Visual and Spatial Arrangements Communicate Sasak Cultural Identity in Dusun Sade's Tourism Setting

Furqonita Pramadanti Wahyudi — 2026-05-18

This study examines how cultural identity is communicated without words through the visual and spatial arrangements of Dusun Sade, a living Sasak heritage village in Lombok, Indonesia. Drawing on Foucault's conceptualization of spatial power and Rose's framework of the visual apparatus, the study argues that cultural identity communication in tourism operates through the systematic organization of space, movement, and visibility rather than through explicit narration or display. Systematic photo-documentation yielded a corpus of 127 images collected during fieldwork in December 2025, analyzed for recurring spatial and visual patterns at both empirical and discursive levels. Three patterns were identified: concentrated visitor movement along a primary corridor, consistent architectural emphasis on natural materials within that corridor, and the exclusive positioning of cultural and commercial activities along the established visitor route. Together, these arrangements produce a selective but coherent visual representation of the Sasak tradition that visitors encounter as natural and authentic. This study extends existing applications of Foucauldian and Rose's frameworks to the context of inhabited traditional villages, demonstrating that spatial governance operates as a mechanism of cultural identity production in living heritage tourism settings.

Judicial Reasoning In Marriage Dispensation Cases: A Maqasid Al-Shariah Analysis Of Premarital Pregnancy

Muniroh Chamim — 2026-05-21

Marriage dispensation requests due to premarital pregnancy have become a significant legal and ethical issue in the practice of religious courts in Indonesia. This study analyzes the judicial reasoning in Decision Number 212/Pdt.P/2023/PA.Mtr and evaluates its alignment with the objectives of Maqasid al-Sharia. This research used a case study approach to examine the court’s legal reasoning alongside relevant statutory frameworks, including Law Number 16 of 2019, Supreme Court Regulation Number 5 of 2019, and the Compilation of Islamic Law. The findings indicate that the judge relied on considerations of public benefit (maslahah) and the prevention of greater harm (mafsadah) to justify granting the dispensation. The decision frames marriage as a mechanism to protect lineage (hifz al-nasl), ensure the legal status of the unborn child, and mitigate social stigma. However, the case also reveals a normative tension between short-term social urgency and the long-term objectives of child protection within a maqasid-based framework.

Public Communication in Smart Cities: A Bibliometric Analysis

Syahril — 2026-05-21

This study scrutinizes the development of research on public communication in smart cities during the 2016–2024 period through a bibliometric approach. Drawing on bibliometric analysis, it identifies the mapping of publication trends, knowledge structures, thematic developments, and the transformation of research paradigms related to public communication within smart city studies. It shows that research on public communication in smart cities has grown significantly since 2016. Early studies were primarily dominated by themes related to information and communication technologies (ICT), the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, digital platforms, and smart governance systems. Over time, research trends shifted toward issues of citizen participation, transparency, digital inclusion, sustainability, privacy, cybersecurity, and ethical governance. The bibliometric analysis also reveals that the United States, China, and the United Kingdom are the countries with the highest publication contributions. Furthermore, the thematic synthesis identified five major research clusters: Digital Communication Infrastructure, Smart Governance and Citizen Participation, Sustainability and Urban Communication, Security and Privacy, and Human-Centered Smart Cities. This study confirms that public communication in smart cities is no longer limited to the dissemination of digital information but has evolved into a multidimensional governance approach that integrates citizen engagement, transparency, sustainability, digital ethics, and participatory communication within the broader framework of smart urban transformation.

The Impact of Color Psychology on Learning Interest and Motivation in E-Learning Visual Communication

Marcellino Imanuel Kurniawan — 2026-05-21

This study aims to analyze the influence of color psychology in e-learning visual communication on users’ learning interest and motivation in the JAPANGO application. This research is motivated by the importance of color as a visual element in digital communication that can influence users’ cognitive and emotional responses during the learning process. In the context of e-learning, color functions not only as an aesthetic element but also as a visual stimulus that can enhance users’ attention, engagement, and learning experience. This study employed a quantitative approach with an explanatory design. Data were collected through an online questionnaire using a Likert scale distributed to 224 Indonesian young users who had experience using the JAPANGO mobile-based Japanese language learning application. Data analysis was conducted using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with the assistance of AMOS software. The results showed that color psychology had a positive and significant effect on learning interest (β = 0.984; p < 0.001) and learning motivation (β = 1.158; p < 0.001). However, learning interest did not have a significant effect on learning motivation (β = -0.161; p = 0.596). These findings indicate that color-based visual stimuli in e-learning can directly influence users’ learning motivation without necessarily going through gradual cognitive processes. Therefore, color can be utilized as an effective visual communication strategy to enhance users’ digital learning experiences.

Integrating Public Relations And Digital Advertising In Telecommunications: Evidence From An Emerging Market Case

Kurnia Dwi Ebthasarie — 2026-05-21

Digital transformation has transformed the way marketing communications work, now requiring strategic collaboration between Public Relations (PR) and digital advertising within an Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) framework. This study examines the synergistic digital public relations and advertising strategies implemented by Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH) and their impact on marketing communication effectiveness in the context of digital disruption. A qualitative case study design was used to collect data through comprehensive interviews, cross-channel campaign content analysis, and examination of company documentation. Findings indicate that IOH institutionalized cross-functional collaboration through its Integrated Communications Unit (UKT), which aligns the formulation of PR's strategic narrative with the adaptation of visuals and audiovisuals by digital marketing, ensuring message consistency, cultural relevance, and content harmonization across audience touchpoints. This integration increased brand awareness (with a 42% surge in organic reach), strengthened audience engagement (5.8% above the industry average of 3.2%), and built a more authentic brand perception (+16% positive sentiment). The use of the IMC Alignment Framework after 2022 also increased video completion rates by 21% and the consistency of key visual messages. Conceptually, this research expands the understanding of value-based IMC, positions PR as a brand narrative organizer in an integrated digital communications ecosystem, and offers a practical model of synergy between PR and digital advertising that can be applied in other industries with contextual adjustments.

Government Digital Public Relations Practices in a Culture-Based Smart City: A Qualitative Case Study of Denpasar, Indonesia

Irla Yulia — 2026-05-23

Smart city development is often dominated by technology-driven approaches that emphasize digital infrastructure and technological efficiency, while overlooking socio-cultural communication processes and government-public relationships. This study aims to analyze the government’s Digital Public Relations (Digital PR) practices in the context of a culture-based smart city in Denpasar, Indonesia. This study employs an interpretive qualitative case study approach through in-depth interviews, observations of the Denpasar City Government’s digital communication platforms, and literature analysis. The findings reveal that the government’s Digital PR practices function not only as mechanisms for disseminating public information and services but also as relational and socio-cultural communication processes through which the government represents cultural identity, negotiates public legitimacy, and shapes communication relationships in the digital public sphere. However, government-public communication in the digital space remains predominantly informative, institutionally controlled, and not yet fully dialogic or participatory. Public participation also remains layered and unevenly distributed due to disparities in digital literacy, socio-cultural communication structures, and unequal participatory capacities among citizens. Furthermore, non-governmental actors such as community intermediaries, tourism stakeholders, alternative digital media, and tourists actively participate in the production, dissemination, and validation of cultural meanings within Denpasar smart city communication ecosystem. Nevertheless, communicative authority and agenda-setting processes remain institutionally centralized, resulting in collaborative yet asymmetrical participation dynamics. Based on these findings, this study proposes a Culture-Based Digital Public Relations Relationship Model. The model emphasizes that effective communication in culture-based smart cities depends not only on technological readiness and digital infrastructure but also on socio-cultural mediation, participatory communication practices, and the government’s ability to accommodate negotiated cultural meanings within hybrid digital public spaces.

Digital Hybridity and Ecological Advocacy in Wayang Motekar as a Cultural Communication Strategy

Atalia Praratya — 2026-05-23

Traditional Indonesian performing arts have faced the challenge of low youth participation in the digital era, raising questions about cultural continuity. This research investigates the application of strategic communication to contemporary Wayang Motekar, a modernist version of Sundanese puppet theatre through which traditional cultural messages are conveyed to digital-native participants. The data were collected through 14 semi-structured interviews (with creators, production teams, cultural observers, and audiences), 8 live performances, and a systematic analysis of digital material from YouTube and Instagram. Three interlinked strategic dimensions were identified. 1) Message planning or the strategic recontextualization of environmental philosophy, which was framed in Sundanese as part of contemporary sustainability discourse, 2) media selection that included video-mapping, projection systems, and platform-differentiated digital distribution; and 3) participatory delivery methods focusing on aesthetic-emotional co-creation rather than didactic instruction. This successful process of cultural communication is facilitated by symbolic-aesthetic involvement, multimodal translation between media platforms, and the positioning of the audience as super-active sense-makers, strategically moving strategic communication theorizing from organization to the sphere of cultural performance. While Wayang Motekar has succeeded in presenting traditional arts as contemporary and can be accepted by the younger generation, it is a matter of fact that success depends on the capability of digital technology literacy among youths, the availability of digital infrastructures, and socio-economic conditions. The study develops an overarching theoretical framework that conceptualizes aesthetic hybridity as instrumental communication, which allows for the empirical identification of the persistence of traditional modes of knowledge, considering digital change.

Cultural Communication and Digital Mnemonic Practices: The Case of Orang Sungai in Urban Pontianak, Indonesia

Annisa Dwi Lestari — 2026-05-25

This study aims to analyze how the Orang Sungai community in Pontianak, Indonesia, reproduces identity through cultural communication channels and digital platforms. Amid increasingly intensive pressures of urbanization, the local identity of riparian communities is often marginalized by formal development narratives that overlook the cultural dimensions of riverbank life. Using an interpretive qualitative approach to narrative texts and digital representations, this study finds that identity communication is articulated through three main domains, namely the use of river cosmology as a moral anchor of communication, the conversion of water-based work ethics into economic-communicative resilience, and mnemonic practices through digital commemoration. The findings show that adaptive cultural communication enables the community to negotiate its presence in urban public space without losing the ecological roots of its identity. This study recommends the integration of riparian local wisdom into urban development communication policy.

Institutional Credibility in Government-Managed Tourism Storytelling: A Systematic Review

Lalu Muhammad Rifqi Nugraha — 2026-05-25

This systematic literature review examines how institutional credibility, digital storytelling, and cultural identity have been conceptualized within government-managed tourism communication research. Despite growing attention to Destination Management Organization (DMO) digital communication, these constructs have been addressed in isolation: institutional credibility through crisis communication and brand trust frameworks, digital storytelling as a marketing mechanism, and cultural identity as narrative content disconnected from governance evaluation. Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines and a PICO framework, Scopus searches identified 384 records, of which 35 met the inclusion criteria. Thematic analysis produced four clusters: institutional credibility and DMO crisis communication, digital storytelling and destination branding, digital storytelling and cultural identity, and DMO digital communication practice. Cross-thematic analysis revealed a structural dissociation, as only 10 of 35 studies (28.6%) addressed all three dimensions simultaneously. Interpreted through Fombrun's Institutional Credibility (IC) framework (encompassing competence, trustworthiness, reliability, and legitimacy), findings show that existing studies engage with these dimensions selectively and without integration into a coherent governance communication account. Cultural identity emerges as an undertheorized credibility signal: when DMOs authentically integrate local heritage into storytelling, they implicitly invoke all four dimensions, yet the conditions under which audiences endorse, or contest such claims, remain untested. This review extends Fombrun's framework toward governance communication in digital tourism and proposes cultural identity authenticity as a mediating variable between storytelling and institutional credibility, reframing digital storytelling as a governance mechanism for trust-building. The most pressing gaps identified include the absence of validated IC measurement instruments and persistent Global North dominance in the literature.

Ethnographic Exploration of Multinational Corporate Culture and Innovation at Lazada Logistics Bandung

Ganjar Kurniawan Ramdani — 2026-05-25

This study employs an ethnographic communication approach to explore how multinational corporate culture influences innovation at Lazada Logistics Indonesia’s Bandung Regional branch, with a focus on communication practices, organizational culture, and multicultural dynamics. Findings reveal a complex relationship among factors contributing to innovation. Lazada’s multinational culture, characterized by workforce diversity and inclusive communication, fosters creativity and collaboration. Data were collected over two months through participant observation, five in-depth interviews, and fifteen focus group discussions with participants across management, operational, and support staff. The use of multiple languages, primarily Bahasa Indonesia supplemented by English, promotes inclusivity while also presenting challenges such as language barriers. Leadership emerged as a key facilitator, with transformational leadership styles effectively inspiring employees. However, challenges include balancing operational demands with innovation, managing cultural diversity, and addressing communication barriers. These findings contribute to understanding how trusted community-embedded structures mediate the translation of organizational culture into innovative behavior in LMIC-adjacent corporate settings.This study employs an ethnographic communication approach to explore how multinational corporate culture influences innovation at Lazada Logistics Indonesia’s Bandung Regional branch, with a focus on communication practices, organizational culture, and multicultural dynamics. Findings reveal a complex relationship among factors contributing to innovation. Lazada’s multinational culture, characterized by workforce diversity and inclusive communication, fosters creativity and collaboration. Data were collected over two months through participant observation, five in-depth interviews, and fifteen focus group discussions with participants across management, operational, and support staff. The use of multiple languages, primarily Bahasa Indonesia supplemented by English, promotes inclusivity while also presenting challenges such as language barriers. Leadership emerged as a key facilitator, with transformational leadership styles effectively inspiring employees. However, challenges include balancing operational demands with innovation, managing cultural diversity, and addressing communication barriers. These findings contribute to understanding how trusted community-embedded structures mediate the translation of organizational culture into innovative behavior in LMIC-adjacent corporate settings.

Negotiating Sundanese Cultural Values through Family WhatsApp Communication

Wahyudin Aep — 2026-05-25

This study examines how Sundanese cultural values are negotiated and communicated through family WhatsApp group interactions in everyday digital communication. The research aims to explore how family members reproduce cultural meanings and maintain relational values through routine online interaction. The study contributes to communication studies by providing insight into the role of digital family communication in shaping cultural identity within the context of Indonesian local culture. A qualitative approach was employed using thematic analysis informed by semiotic interpretation. Data were collected from three Sundanese family WhatsApp groups in West Java, Indonesia, over a three-month observation period. The data consists of text-based conversations containing greetings, advice, religious expressions, humor, and everyday family discussions. The findings show that Sundanese cultural values are communicated through recurring interactional patterns such as politeness, respect toward elders, expressions of care, humility, and religious discourse. These interactions demonstrate that WhatsApp group communication functions not only as a medium for information exchange but also as a space where cultural meanings are continuously negotiated through everyday interaction. The study highlights the importance of digital family communication in sustaining social relationships and cultural identity within contemporary mediated environments.

Technology Adaptation Patterns and Third-Level Digital Divide: Analyzing Workplace Communication at PT. Pesta Pora Abadi

Nurul Fatihah — 2026-05-25

This study provides an exploratory overview of patterns of technological adaptation as a fundamental factor contributing to the intergenerational digital divide between Generation Z and Millennials at PT Pesta Pora Abadi. Unlike previous literature, which often emphasizes access to infrastructure or basic technical skills, this study argues that the root of the digital divide lies in differences in how individuals internalize and operationalize new technologies in the workplace. Using a descriptive qualitative design, data were collected through in-depth interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). Thematic analysis identified five distinct adaptation patterns: intuitive-agile adaptation, structured-procedural adaptation, learning speed disparities, resistance to specific platforms, and the contradiction between integrity-based validation and efficiency. The findings reveal that these differing patterns create systemic noise in corporate communication, regardless of the individual’s level of technical proficiency. Practically, this study recommends that organizations implement reverse mentoring and align the digital growth mindset with corporate values (I-ACT) to bridge this gap.

Cultural Identity as Communicative Accomplishment: Social Identity Processes among Flores Migrants in Surabaya

Fransisca Fitria Kusainintyas — 2026-05-26

This study aims to examine how Flores migrants in Surabaya negotiate and maintain their cultural identity through interpersonal, communal, and digital communication within an urban Javanese setting. The research focuses on the communicative practices of Flores migrant communities and the digital discourse surrounding NTT (Nusa Tenggara Timur) and Flores identity on social media platforms. Employing a qualitative case study design, data were collected through Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with five Flores migrants in Surabaya and netnographic analysis of YouTube videos and public comments related to NTT identity representation. Drawing on Social Identity Theory, the findings reveal three core themes: (1) boundary communication through embodied markers such as skin color, accent, and ethnic names; (2) constructing belonging through relational language, communal rituals, and traditional dress; and (3) performing pride through digital narratives that counter stigma and affirm cultural heritage. The results demonstrate that digital discourse provides spaces for public articulation of NTT identity, while face-to-face community interactions reinforce solidarity and mutual support among migrants. This study concludes that cultural identity is not merely a psychological resource but a dynamic communicative process through which Flores migrants negotiate difference, recognition, and belonging in multicultural urban life.

Performing Minority Identity: Storytelling Practices Of Indonesian Migrant Caregivers On Tiktok

Jihan Farida Putri — 2026-05-29

This study aims to analyze how Indonesian migrant caregivers in Japan construct and perform their minority identities through storytelling practices on TikTok. It also explores the extent to which these representations open up opportunities for the emergence of micro-celebrities in the digital space. Previous studies have tended to position migrant workers as objects of structural analysis, thus remaining limited in explaining how they actively encode, negotiate, and represent their lived experiences through self-produced narratives on social media. To address this gap, this study employs a qualitative approach using Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA) on ten TikTok videos produced by Indonesian migrant caregivers, with thematic analysis assisted by NVivo software. The findings identify seven main themes: emotional burden, occupational risks, workplace realities, self-regulation, workplace relationship dynamics, communication barriers, and personal growth. Through the lens of Stuart Hall’s theory of representation, these narratives reflect dominant, negotiated, and oppositional readings. Digital storytelling functions not only as a medium for self-expression but also as a strategic performative practice that generates authenticity capital, reinforces niche identity, and builds parasocial bonds with the audience. This study contributes to expanding communication research on performative minority identity at the intersection of digital storytelling, platform visibility, and migrant workers’ self-representation.

Multilingual Communication and Intercultural Adaptation Among Indonesian Diaspora Students in Davao

Lumban Arofah — 2026-06-03

This study examines multilingual communication practices and intercultural adaptation among Indonesian diaspora students at Sekolah Indonesia Davao (SID), a government-sponsored Indonesian school in Davao City, Mindanao, Philippines. Grounded in intercultural communication theory, specifically Gudykunst and Kim’s (2003) cross-cultural adaptation model, Ting-Toomey’s (1999) face-negotiation theory, and Deardorff’s (2006) intercultural competence framework, the study investigates how SID students deploy multilingual communication repertoires as strategies for intercultural adaptation and identity negotiation in a complex four-language ecology (Indonesian, English, Filipino, and Bisaya). Using a descriptive quantitative design with supplementary qualitative analysis, data were collected from ten purposively selected students (grades 9–12) through a validated 27-item bilingual questionnaire. Results reveal that (1) 90% of respondents engage in multilingual communication switching, with a trilingual Indonesian–English–Filipino/Bisaya pattern dominating (60%), reflecting achieved intercultural communicative competence rather than linguistic deficiency; (2) habit is the primary communication motivation (70%), indicating that multilingual switching has been internalized as an unmarked communicative norm; (3) a polyglossic communication structure pertains, with Indonesian dominating formal institutional contexts and mixed codes functioning as the face-affirming, solidarity-building register of informal interaction; (4) 60% of respondents demonstrate high metalinguistic awareness of their communication practices; and (5) all respondents affirm that multilingual communication competence contributes positively to intercultural adaptation in Davao. Beyond individual switching, the study identifies an emergent community-level communication code, a shared trilingual variety functioning simultaneously as a diasporic identity marker. These findings contribute to interdisciplinary communication science by demonstrating that multilingual communication practices in diaspora school communities constitute sophisticated intercultural competence strategies, and carry direct implications for intercultural communication-informed language education policy in overseas Indonesian schools (SILN).

Persuasive Communication in Digital Philanthropy: Bridging the Zakat Intention-Behavior Gap on Instagram

Agustin Santriana Wijayant — 2026-06-03

This research investigates how Islamic philanthropic institutions employ digital persuasive communication strategies on Instagram to bridge the critical intention-behavior gap following public trust deficits. By integrating persuasive message design with an extended Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), this study examines the impact of institutional trust-building, visual social proof (social norms), and instructional clarity (perceived ease of transaction) in predicting digital zakat behavior. An explanatory quantitative survey was conducted among 385 active Instagram followers of Rumah Zakat Indonesia, with data analyzed using the PLS-SEM algorithm. The findings reveal that visual social proof, manifested as a digital bandwagon effect, is the most dominant persuasive predictor of the audience's zakat intention. Crucially, trust-building messages lack a significant direct effect on actual behavior, requiring the audience's intention as a full mediator. Furthermore, clear instructional communication regarding digital transaction functions as a 'moral nudge' that directly facilitates spontaneous giving. To optimize digital philanthropy, persuasive communication campaigns must move beyond generic transparency claims and prioritize influencer-driven social proof combined with frictionless digital call-to-actions.

Melawi Malay Medicine Mantras As A Medium Of Religious Communication

Winda Afriani — 2026-06-04

Mantras in the Malay oral tradition function not only as a means of traditional medicine but also as a medium of religious communication that transmits Islamic values through local cultural symbols. This study aims to analyze how Melawi Malay medicine mantras function as a medium of religious communication in conveying religious messages to the community. The study employed a qualitative-descriptive approach through text analysis and cultural interpretation of six traditional medicine mantras of the Melawi Malay community in West Kalimantan. The analysis was conducted using Paul Ricoeur’s cultural hermeneutics, Bronislaw Malinowski’s anthropological approach, and the perspective of cultural communication to understand the relationship among ritual language, local symbols, and religious messages within the mantras. Data were collected through interviews, observation, recordings of mantra recitations, and transcription using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The findings indicate that the mantras contain strong elements of religious communication through the use of declarations of tawhid, the mention of Allah, the Prophet Muhammad, and religious prayers integrated with natural symbols, local cosmology, traditional magical elements, and relationships between humans and nature. These findings demonstrate that mantras function not only as a medium of healing but also as a medium of religious communication that enables Islamic values to be communicated and internalized through local cultural structures that already possess social legitimacy within the community. This study contributes to the development of religious communication and cultural communication studies by demonstrating that oral traditions can serve as a medium for conveying religious messages within traditional societies.

TikTok Marketing Communication and Purchase Intention Through Brand Awareness, Brand Engagement, and Perceived Value

Aulia Sa’diah — 2026-06-05

The objective of this study is to examine the effect of TikTok social media marketing on purchase intention through the mediating roles of brand awareness, customer brand engagement, and perceived value among consumers of local fashion brands. As digital communication platforms continue to influence consumer behavior, the psychological mechanisms through which social media marketing shapes purchase intention remain insufficiently understood. Using a quantitative approach, data were collected from 200 respondents and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results reveal that social media marketing significantly influences purchase intention both directly and indirectly through brand awareness, customer brand engagement, and perceived value. Among the three mediating variables, brand awareness emerged as the strongest mediator, followed by perceived value and customer brand engagement. These findings indicate that TikTok-based communication activities play an important role in helping consumers recognize, remember, and evaluate brands, which subsequently strengthens their purchase intention. This study contributes to digital communication and consumer behavior literature by explaining how social media marketing influences purchase intention through brand awareness, customer brand engagement, and perceived value in the context of Indonesian local fashion brands.

Lecturers' Communication Competence and Undergraduate Students' Reading Interest: The Mediating Role of Motivation at Telkom University

Rahadatul Aisyah Dhiaulhaq — 2026-06-05

Students often face difficulties in meeting academic standards, particularly in reading activities. Reading interest is an internal drive that encourages individuals to engage in reading voluntarily. In this context, the reading interest of undergraduate students at Telkom University is influenced by various factors, one of which is lecturers’ communication competence as facilitators in the learning process. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the influence of lecturers’ communication competence on students’ reading interest through motivation. This study employs a quantitative approach using the Structural Equation Modeling–Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS) method and is grounded in Self-Determination Theory. The study involved 400 respondents selected using the cluster random sampling technique. The findings indicate that lecturers’ communication competence has a positive and significant effect on students’ motivation and reading interest. Furthermore, motivation also has a positive and significant effect on reading interest and acts as a mediating variable in the relationship between lecturers’ communication competence and students’ reading interest.

Digital Marketing Communication, e-WOM Amplification, and Consumer Loyalty: A Mediation Analysis

Haryadi Mujianto — 2026-06-05

This study examines the mediating role of e-WOM amplification in the relationship between digital marketing communication strategies and consumer loyalty among Indonesian social media users. Using a quantitative explanatory survey design, data were collected from 180 purposively selected respondents with prior experience in online purchasing and e-WOM activities. The study employed multiple linear regression and mediation analysis using the PROCESS macro Model 4 with 5,000 bootstrapped samples. The findings reveal that digital marketing communication strategies significantly influence e-WOM amplification and consumer loyalty. Consumer engagement and user-generated content emerged as the strongest indicators within the digital communication and e-WOM dimensions. The mediation analysis confirmed that e-WOM amplification partially mediates the relationship between digital marketing communication and consumer loyalty, indicating that digital communication becomes more effective when consumers actively participate in disseminating brand-related information through social media interactions. These findings highlight the strategic importance of interactive communication, information credibility, and participatory digital engagement in strengthening long-term consumer loyalty. The study contributes theoretically by extending the conceptualization of e-WOM as an amplification mechanism within digital marketing communication and provides practical implications for companies seeking to optimize digital communication strategies in competitive online markets.

Digital Public Relations in School-Based Health Campaigns: A Systematic Literature Review toward a Hybrid Engagement Model in the Indonesian Context

Wiratri Anindhita — 2026-06-08

This study explores the role of digital public relations in school-based health campaigns and addresses the lack of an integrative framework to link communication, engagement, and digital interaction. The study employed a qualitative Systematic Literature Review (SLR) using the PRISMA framework. A total of 45 peer-reviewed articles published between 2015 and 2024 were analyzed. The study combined bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer and thematic synthesis through open, axial, and selective coding. The findings revealed three key gaps: (1) conceptual fragmentation between communication and engagement theories, (2) limited contextual exploration in developing countries like Indonesia, and (3) the methodological dominance of empirical studies without conceptual integration. The results also indicated that communication practices were largely one-way, engagement was reduced to measurable metrics, and digital media was used primarily as a delivery tool rather than an interactive platform. This study proposed a Hybrid Engagement Model comprising institutional communication, participatory engagement, and digital interaction that could contribute to education and communication research by positioning schools as active communication hubs and promoting digitally integrated participatory health campaigns.

Borobudur as a Cosmological Communication System: The Main Stupa as a Giant Gnomon in Javanese Buddhist Tradition

Deni Setiawan — 2026-06-08

This research looks at the main stupa at Borobudur and how it works like a big shadow tool for the sky. It seems tied to older Javanese views on the universe and what people knew about farming back then. Sources on old astronomy and building studies were compared in a descriptive way, along with some historical notes. The layout and carvings probably hold details on time and crops, so the monument could pass things along to people nearby. I think the shadows line up at certain points in the year with a local calendar that splits the seasons into twelve. That part feels like it helped share practical knowledge with farmers around the area. Some of the alignments might connect to Buddhist ideas too, but it is not totally clear how far that goes. The design has layers that do not always fit together neatly in what gets discussed. This paper brings together archeoastronomy and communication theory in a new framework. It fills a gap by treating cosmological communication as layers of symbols and environmental knowledge that get passed on. I think that part stands out as useful, but maybe it oversimplifies the connections. The findings point to a need for stronger heritage protection. Not just the buildings, but the living knowledge about the cosmos that stays tied to them. Using secondary sources has some limits, though. It feels like primary field observations and direct solar measurements could help later studies. Some details might still need checking in person.

Disaster Communication Governance at Yogyakarta International Airport

Achmad Rizki Arrajabi — 2026-06-08

Public relations in high-risk infrastructure is not limited to media relations or message dissemination, but also includes stakeholder coordination, meaning alignment, and public trust maintenance during a crisis. This study reframes airport disaster communication as a strategic public relations practice by examining how stakeholder coordination is designed, enacted, and strengthened at Yogyakarta International Airport. Using a qualitative case study approach, data were collected through in-depth interviews, limited observation, and strategic document analysis involving airport authorities, operational units, and disaster-related external stakeholders. Guided by Stakeholder Management Theory and a strategic public relations perspective, the findings show that crisis coordination emerges through negotiated authority, layered information flows, frontline empathetic communication, and simulation-based institutional learning. Formal documents such as standard operating procedures and disaster management plans provide a basic structure, yet their effectiveness depends on cross-unit information synchronization and the capacity to translate technical risk into credible public messages. The study contributes to public relations scholarship by demonstrating that crisis communication in critical infrastructure functions as communicative governance that links stakeholder engagement, organization-public relationships, legitimacy, and adaptive resilience.

Communication of Digital Crowdfunding as a Social Behavioral Change: Systematic Literature Review of Health-Based Crowdfunding in Indonesia

Maulana Irfan — 2026-06-12

Health crowdfunding through digital platforms is now a major social trend in Indonesia. But how these practices correlate with Social and Behavioral Change Communication (SBCC) theories is still not widely explored. This study aims to explore the role of digital health crowdfunding within SBCC and social service delivery, especially in the Indonesian context. We used a systematic literature review method based on the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. We analyzed 45 articles published between 2015 and 2024, covering key theoretical texts on SBCC, crowdfunding, and empirical research. The findings show that Indonesian crowdfunding websites like Kitabisa.com already incorporate SBCC elements. These include agenda-setting, social norms activism, community involvement, and trust-based persuasion. This study shows a clear convergence between SBCC strategies and crowdfunding techniques. However, we also note several challenges like donor fatigue, inequality, and risks to vulnerable communities. Finally, we developed an integrated theoretical model. This model works as a heuristic tool rather than an empirical framework, which is the main theoretical contribution of this paper.

How AI-Generated Allegory Functions In Digital Propaganda

Rino Andreas — 2026-06-16

This article examines how AI-generated allegory functions in digital propaganda through a semiotic analysis of the short video White Eagle Alliance vs. The Persian Cats. Produced by China’s CCTV, the video reframes contemporary geopolitical conflict involving Iran, the United States, and its allies through animal allegory, stylized visual narration, and cinematic battle imagery. Using Roland Barthes’ semiotic framework and a qualitative multimodal analysis of fifteen selected scenes, this study investigates how meaning is constructed at the levels of denotation, connotation, and myth. The findings show that the video operates not merely as a representation of conflict but as a myth-making device that organizes political meaning through binaries of aggression and resistance, domination and defense, imperial threat and heroic struggle. Animal allegory functions to soften explicit political messaging while enhancing emotional appeal, ideological clarity, and audience accessibility. The study argues that AI-generated allegorical propaganda marks a significant shift in digital political communication, where automated visual production and symbolic storytelling converge to produce persuasive wartime narratives in highly shareable media formats.