Indonesian Journal of Digital Society is a scientific journal

Creative Culture and Ethical Negotiation in Artificial Intelligence Practices among Public Relations Interns in the Digital Society

2026-09-21T11:10:28+07:00

As a newly established ministry in Indonesia, the Ministry of Culture faces the challenge of building public understanding of its existence, functions, and cultural agenda in an increasingly digital society. This challenge coincides with a 60% increase in student demand for public relations internships at the Directorate of Cultural Diplomacy, Promotion, and Cooperation from 2025 to 2026, reflecting growing student interest in cultural institutions and digital communication. This study examines how artificial intelligence shapes creative culture and ethical negotiation among public relations interns. Drawing on digital anthropology, AI is understood not merely as a technological tool but as an emerging cultural practice that reshapes creativity, cultural representation, authorship, and ethical responsibility. Using a qualitative reflective approach based on the author’s experience supervising interns in producing visual designs, videos, and digital content, the study finds that students’ limitations in creative and technical skills can be transformed into collective strengths through mentoring, human judgment, cultural sensitivity, and institutional guidance. AI expands opportunities for creative experimentation and efficient content production, yet supervision remains essential to ensure accuracy, cultural relevance, ethical integrity, and alignment with institutional objectives. The study positions internships as spaces of cultural collaboration between students and government institutions, fostering mutual learning while strengthening public communication about culture. Responsible AI use is therefore not only a technological competence but also a cultural and ethical practice grounded in human creativity and institutional responsibility.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Creative Culture; Ethical Negotiation; Public Relations Interns; Digital Society

Identity Management Strategies of Sexual Minorities through Personal Branding on Social Media in Makassar

2026-09-21T11:08:51+07:00

This study aims to analyze identity management strategies through personal branding on social media in Makassar City. The study employed a qualitative descriptive approach and was conducted from April to May 2026. The research involved five informants selected through purposive sampling based on the criteria of individuals belonging to sexual minority groups, residing in Makassar City, and actively using Instagram and/or TikTok. Data were collected through digital documentation, non-participant observation, and in-depth interviews, then analyzed using the Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña model, which consists of data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing. The findings indicate that social media serves as a strategic space for identity management through personal branding by creating consistent content, utilizing lifestyle symbols, and maintaining active interactions with audiences. The informants consciously constructed digital identities that reflected their personal characteristics, social roles, and activities, such as content creators, active university students, and individuals with extensive social networks. The identities presented primarily emphasized a positive social image as part of their identity management strategy in the digital environment. From the perspective of Erving Goffman's dramaturgical theory, these practices represent a form of impression management, in which social media functions as the front stage for displaying carefully constructed identities, while more personal aspects of life are reserved for the back stage. This study demonstrates that social media functions not only as a communication platform but also as an important space for identity management, personal branding, social recognition, and the maintenance of social presence in the digital era.

Keywords: Personal Branding; Social Medial; Impression Management

Crafting Glocal Identities: Youth Digital Practices in Negotiating Local and Global Cultures

2026-09-21T10:28:23+07:00

Abstract

The concurrent processes of digital transformation and glocalization have fundamentally reshaped how young people construct and negotiate their cultural identities. This study aims to examine how Indonesian youth negotiate and construct glocal identities through digital practices embedded in their everyday lives. A qualitative approach with a descriptive phenomenological design was employed. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews, digital walk-throughs, limited participant observation, and documentation. The participants were young people aged 17–24 years residing in Sidoarjo and Surabaya who were selected using purposive sampling. The analysis generated three main themes: (1) hybridity in cultural consumption and production practices, through which local and global elements are actively integrated; (2) digital spaces as emerging arenas for the exchange of cultural capital and the construction of social status; and (3) the use of reflexive strategies to manage and navigate digital identities, including the management of different social media accounts. The findings demonstrate that young people function as active agents who consciously reconstruct hybrid identities rather than merely passively receiving global cultural flows. Theoretically, this study contributes to the development of digital sociology by integrating the theoretical perspectives of Bourdieu, Giddens, and Robertson. Practically, the findings provide valuable insights for sociology educators, cultural policymakers, and creative industry practitioners in developing strategies to strengthen local identities while adapting to ongoing digitalization. Future research should extend the analysis to a broader range of social media platforms and more diverse cultural domains.

Keywords: Glocal Identity; Digital Practices; Cultural Hybridity; Youth; Digital Sociology; Cultural Capital.

Bridging the Digital Chasm: Evaluating Youth Inclusion and Gender Parity in Malawi Vision 2063’s Technological Transformation

2026-09-21T10:31:05+07:00

Malawi Vision 2063 places youth and women at the center of the country’s ambition to become an inclusively wealthy, self-reliant, and upper-middle-income nation, as active and critical stakeholders rather than passive beneficiaries of national transformation. Yet the expansion of digital technologies occurs within a highly unequal socioeconomic and infrastructural environment. This paper examines whether Malawi's digital-infrastructure deficits in electricity, connectivity, and device ownership are producing a new, technologically mediated divide between an increasingly connected urban minority and marginalized youth and women. Employing Jan van Dijk's theory of access, the paper undertakes a qualitative desk-based analysis of government policy documents, national and international development reports, and relevant scholarly literature. The analysis finds that Malawi's digital divide is multidimensional and cumulative: limited electricity access and low household device ownership constrain material access before questions of skills or meaningful use even arise. Although MW2063's three pillars and its ICT-specific implementation targets provide a credible institutional foundation for digital transformation, the paper argues that without deliberate, gender-responsive, and youth-targeted investment in infrastructure and digital skills, technological leapfrogging risks reproducing and deepening existing socioeconomic and spatial inequalities. It argues that achieving gender parity and youth inclusion under MW2063 requires moving beyond infrastructure expansion towards an integrated approach that combines affordable access, digital capability development, participatory governance, locally relevant content, and safeguards for women and youth. It concludes with policy-relevant recommendations for aligning MW2063's implementation instruments with its stated aspirations for inclusive digital citizenship.

Keywords: Malawi Vision 2063; digital chasm; youth inclusion; gender parity; digital infrastructure; digital literacy; leapfrogging.

Framing Conflict and Environmental Justice in Online Media Coverage of the Ulumbu-Poco Leok and Mataloko Geothermal Projects in East Nusa Tenggara

2026-09-21T13:51:40+07:00

Geothermal development in Flores is promoted as part of the energy transition, yet at the local level it has generated conflicts over land, water, livelihoods, participation, and recognition of Indigenous communities. This study examines how local online media in East Nusa Tenggara frame conflict and environmental justice in reporting on the Ulumbu-Poco Leok and Mataloko geothermal projects. It employs a qualitative descriptive-analytical approach with a comparative case-study design. The corpus comprises 24 event-based news articles published by seven media outlets between 1 January 2025 and 31 July 2026. The articles were analyzed using Entman’s four framing functions, Schlosberg’s three dimensions of environmental justice, and additional attention to source access and content origin. The findings identify two dominant framing packages. Fourteen articles (58.3%) foreground a rights-ecology frame, while seven articles (29.2%) prioritize a technocratic-development frame. The remaining three emphasize political mediation, project-related economic conflict, and episodic dramatization. Ulumbu-Poco Leok is primarily framed as a conflict over legitimacy, land rights, and consent procedures, whereas Mataloko is framed through lived impacts, technical risk, water, agriculture, and health. The study concludes that geothermal conflict is not simply a pro-con debate over renewable energy, but a contest over definitions of progress, the distribution of benefits and risks, the quality of participation, and recognition of local identities and knowledge.

Keywords: Media framing; Geothermal energy; Conflict; Environmental justice; East Nusa Tenggara

Healing Practices as a Lifestyle Trend among Young People in Mataram City

2026-09-21T13:50:54+07:00

The development of social media has shifted the meaning of healing among young people from a process of psychological recovery to a lifestyle trend. This phenomenon is evident among young people in Mataram City, where healing is interpreted through various recreational, consumption-based, and leisure activities. This study aims to analyze the culture of healing as a lifestyle trend among young people in Mataram City using Mike Featherstone's consumer culture perspective. This study employed a qualitative method with a phenomenological approach through observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation. The findings reveal that healing practices are manifested in three main forms: location consumption, object consumption, and activities. These practices are influenced by internal factors, including the need to relieve stress, seek entertainment, maintain physical health, and engage in self-reward, as well as external factors such as social media and peer influence. Healing practices have positive impacts, including stress reduction, improved physical health, and better financial management, but they also contribute to consumerist behavior, Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), social media hyperreality, and hedonistic tendencies. The findings indicate that healing has evolved into a form of symbolic consumption through which young people construct their identity, self-image, and social existence.

Keywords: Healing Practices; Lifestyle Trend; Young People; Consumer Culture; Social Media