Journal Paper Format

International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology Vol. 29, No. 8, (2020), pp. 523-530

Users Perception of Social Media on Political Satire in Political Memes in Indonesia

Ansar Suherman Universitas Muhammadiyah Buton, Indonesia [email protected]

Abstract Political satire emerged in the political years in Indonesia, especially before the presidential and vice-presidential elections of the Republic of Indonesia in 2019. One form of political satire is contained in political memes on social media. The use of social media to spread political memes can reach a wider audience. The phenomenon of the emergence of political memes by many Indonesians is motivated by social pressure and political turmoil of political elites at the national or local level, so that many creative ideas emerge to eliminate boredom. Not just to get rid of boredom, but to provide entertainment. This meme is a medium that conveys information through humor, and figuratively has long been a tool of resistance. This study looks at political memes that exist in several social media, namely Facebook and Instagram. The purpose of this study is to analyze the perception of social media users about political innuendo contained in social media accounts using a qualitative approach. The findings in this study are that political memes in Indonesia have become one of the media that provides ideas and criticisms of social and political life phenomena that are of interest to the political elite and to direct the government. In addition, several factors were found that caused differences in the perception of social media users about the content of political memes. The conclusion is the background of the level of education and the background of cultural values adopted by the informant are the factors that distinguish these perceptions.

Keywords: perception, social media, satire politics, political meme

1. Introduction Richard Dawkins is a figure who pioneered the study of memetics through his book "The Selfish Gene" in 1976. According to Dawkins, memes come from the Greek "mimeme" which means "to imitate". The concept then became part of popular culture that is happening in society today [1]. The phenomenon of political memes in cyberspace especially social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube) has become an interesting and prolonged discourse material especially in the field of political communication. The phenomenon of using political memes is more aimed at providing criticism and satire to the ruling government, political opponents or protesting the economic, political, social, and cultural situation, but the contents of messages in political memes sometimes do not pay attention to ethics in political communication (satire style, parody, metaphor). Political memes seem to have become a new genre in the study of political communication and are considered a lingua franca in campaigning activities in the current digital era. The presence and development of media in the web 2.0 era gave rise to various forms of criticism and political satire channels such as blogs, YouTube and, the web, specifically those containing political satire [2]. The development of these media also contributed to the changing patterns of community communication in the digital world. If previously, when television broadcasts were still the main source of information, the process of delivering information, especially political information, was still one-way, because voters were only the main objects to be influenced and did not have direct power

International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology Vol. 29, No. 8, (2020), pp. 523-530 to change (the message content) what was conveyed by the broadcast television, with the subject being a television program controlled by a team of editors. Although political memes on the internet have become a tool for citizens to actively participate in and become a tool for discourse in the middle of social life, the effect of political memes has not been very clear enough to influence an audience [3]. In-depth research needs to be done on the perception of the audience to see the extent of the effects of political memes on the internet, especially social media. According to Tay, political memes have become a new style of political humor resulting from the development of the digital world. Political memes as the latest political humor style contribute to the creation and consolidation of the web able to absorb and reframe content from popular culture [4]. Biologist Richard Dawkins was the first person to popularize the term "meme" in 1976 [5]. Dawkins mentioned this in the explanation of genes and evolution, where memes are a replicator, a noun that conveys ideas about cultural transmission units, or imitation units. Meme is used to explain the process of cultural inheritance carried out by humans through replication behavior. The behavior of replication is similar to gene inheritance. The continuous process of cultural inheritance through the process of replication makes the replicator entity compete and adapt to its habitat. Only replicators that can evolve and adapt to the environment survive and be replicated again by humans. According to the Indonesian Dictionary (Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia/ KBBI), memes are non-standard forms of "mim", which means ideas, behaviors, or styles that spread from one person to another in a culture, or footage from television shows, films, etc. or self-made images that are modified by adding words or writings for humorous and entertaining purposes”. The two meanings contained in the KBBI have historical relevance and can refer to the same entity of course. Political memes are widely contained and discussed by researchers [4], [6]-[10]. Research shows that memes have significant implications for the political conversation of a community, even some of which have implications for certain political actions [10]. For example, the involvement of memes in the revolution in Tunisia as described by [7]. Based on this opinion, political memes are considered as a serious action, which has implications for changes in the social fabric of society. In Indonesia, political memes have taken an important part in political communication. In 2019, Indonesia's population is 264 million people, around 171 million people have been connected to the internet (64.8%), an increase from 2018 which only amounted to 123 million people. A very large number to see internet penetration in this country. So the quantity of use of political memes as a means of mass campaigning occurred during the Presidential Election as happened in the 2019 Presidential Election, where the "2019 Change President" meme was a trending topic for quite a long time. The meme itself was then rewarded with another political meme "He Was Busy Working" which seemed to try to answer from the "2019 Change President" meme. So many political memes emerge during the succession of national leadership, both aimed at attacking political opponents or responding to attacks by political opponents, making people as voters bring up different perceptions about these political memes. So this research article aims to analyze the perceptions of social media users of Satire Politics in political memes on the internet, especially social media. By using attribution theory [11] which will analyze matters related to how and why someone's opinion is formed about the situation of the surrounding environment. The basis of this theory states that perception is the basis of one's understanding, reason, and behavior [12].

International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology Vol. 29, No. 8, (2020), pp. 523-530

2. Methodology The research method in research uses a qualitative approach. This approach is a very useful instrument and helps researchers in answering complex research questions [13]. In this article, the researcher will describe the research data derived from observations, field notes, documentation, and especially interviews with informants regarding perceptions of social media users on the presence of satire politics in political memes that often emerge before the year politics in Indonesia. Data analysis models go through three stages, namely: data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions or verification. The location of this research was carried out in one of the cities in Indonesia, namely the City of Baubau, located in Southeast Sulawesi Province. The population in this study is the population in the city with a sample of social media users (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), with a variety of educational backgrounds and local cultural values (local wisdom), and who are not directly affiliated with one political party in Indonesia this is to avoid the political motives of an informant to be more objective in providing information, because the motives according to [14] greatly affect a person in processing an information and affect one's attitude or belief. The sampling technique used was purposive sampling. This technique is part of the non-probability sampling technique which aims at selecting subjects from a population unit. The reason for choosing this technique is because researchers have limited resources, as well as the results of the study not to generalize to the entire population [15].

3. Results and Discussion Since the fall of the authoritarian militaristic regime in 1998 under the New Order government led by General Soeharto, the taps of democracy in Indonesia are fully open, marked by the rise of associations or organizations in the name of pro-democracy organizations, political parties labeled pro-people, and the freedom of the people in voicing criticism and protest against the government which in the days of the New Order regime did not happen. The forms and media of criticism / protest against the government used by the public in response to the economic and political situation in Indonesia has changed both in quantity and quality, from conventional media (leaflets, pamphlets, stickers, etc.) to more modern media supported by technological developments information and communication (ICT), especially the internet and social media. According to [16], the presence of the internet marks the emergence of new forms of knowledge production and distribution. besides that, internet visualization capability is believed to be able to convey messages strongly to internet users [17]. Based on data from the Ministry of Communication and Information of the Republic of Indonesia in 2019, that the number of internet users in Indonesia is the sixth-largest in the world which reaches 54% of the total population of Indonesia or about 143 million users from 265 population. With a very large number of internet users, it becomes one of the considerations not only for producers of goods and services to advertise or promote on the internet, but also to be used by the general public to spread news and information, conduct campaigns and propaganda without any censorship. Another reason for the use of the internet as the main media in disseminating information according to [18], is that the internet provides an environment in which millions of people participate and are involved in the production and exchange of information. In the absence of censorship by authorized government agencies, the information distributed is then consumed freely by the internet user community and can

International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology Vol. 29, No. 8, (2020), pp. 523-530 have a negative impact. One of the negative impacts caused is that the information will be swallowed raw by internet users. In 2016, Central Connecticut State University released the results of a survey on the Most Literate Nations in The World, stating that Indonesian people's interest in reading was only 0.01% (1: 10,000) or ranked 60 out of 61 countries surveyed. This has become one of the sources of problems in Indonesia, where many internet user communities receive information disseminated in cyberspace to be swallowed raw because of a very low reading culture. The presence of political memes on the internet with its satirical style then raises new problems. Political memes with rough, unethical diction and even contain certain elements of personal exploitation or gender are found on social media. As a result, is every social media user expresses his perception in interpreting the political meme. The educational background and local culture (local wisdom values) of the informants in this study also have influences on the informants' perceptions. According to Bauer in the theory of Obstacles Audience states that everyone will not directly send responses to information that comes from outside himself, but individuals can make a selection of the message or information [19]. This theory as a response to the rejection of Hypodermic Needle Theory or can be called Magic Bullet Theory which considers individuals as passive subjects who will simply take the information exposed. The following are some examples of political memes taken from the internet.

Figure 1. Meme Nurhadi-Aldo who twisted a term (source: Instagram #nurhadialdo2019)

Figure 2. Dictions containing unethical words (source: Instagram #nurhadialdo2019)

International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology Vol. 29, No. 8, (2020), pp. 523-530

Figure 3. Meme showing an unethical picture (source: Instagram Account: Kompasiana)

Figure 4. Political Memes of the 2019 Indonesian Presidential Election which attacked the weaknesses of presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto (source: Instagram Account: @evannywityo)

Figure 5. Political Memes of the 2019 Indonesian Presidential Election which attacked the weaknesses of vice presidential candidate (Source: tirto.id)

Memes are always experiencing the development of forms and methods of distribution; this is evidenced by the birth of various memes in social media. In Indonesia, memes have actually been developing for quite a long time, initially popularized on the site www.1cak.com this site is actually still a gene with www.9gag.com which was first known in the United States.

International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology Vol. 29, No. 8, (2020), pp. 523-530

It is called a gene because what is offered is very similar, certainly with the different languages used because "1cak" is an Indonesian language site and is specifically devoted to making comic memes that also speak Indonesian, with topics that become reality in Indonesia. In the 2019 elections for example, there were a lot of memes appearing on internet sites, especially on social media such as Facebook and Instagram that brought up political topics in Indonesia. Unmitigated photographs of the Candidates and their supporting figures at the time and even then many were swiped by putting memes, coupled with the writings and taglines in the meme drawings. In the modern era where social media is increasingly developing, memes are also present in it, signaling the use of memes is not yet over. One is in social media Facebook and Instagram. Both Facebook and Instagram are claimed to have reached hundreds of millions, even Facebook reaching billions of users around the world and Indonesia is the most active country using Facebook social media networks. The first question given to informants is informants' knowledge about political memes? Based on the results of interviews with Informant 1 (last education: Bachelor) the researcher concluded, political memes are the result of artistic creations that take the latest models to convey social criticism by utilizing the internet (social media). Then there is the same answer between Informant 2 (last education: high school), Informant 3 and informant 4 (last education: postgraduate) which states that political memes are a new way for a person or community to express their opinions, protests, criticisms, including political attacks on a political opponent. Then the conclusions of the results of interviews with Informant 5 and Informant 6 (Last education: high school), revealed that political memes are only for fun or just entertainment. And finally, the conclusion of the interview with Informant 7 (last education: SMP) is the same opinion as Informant 5 and Informant 6, that political memes are only a means of humor for him. The second question, asks about whether the informant knows the motives for spreading political memes? Informant 1 stated that, the motive for spreading political memes either by political elites, individuals, or certain groups intended to convey protests and non-verbal attacks to political opponents or the ruling government. Informant 2, Informant 3, Informant 4, and Informant 6 expressed an opinion similar to Informant 2, that besides intending to protest and attack against political opponents, political memes were also motivated to provide a counterattack to the opposition camp or political opponents. Whereas Informant 5 and Informant 7 stated that the motive of a person or group was only to find a sensation or a way to be viral on social media. The third question, is political meme with its satirical style in accordance by cultural values or local wisdom values held by informants? The researcher concludes, that six out of seven informants (Informants 1 to Informant 6) provide the same core statement that political memes are sometimes very far from the values of local wisdom because many are found to use obscene words, and demean the dignity of others. There are political memes that have good content but not a few also contain a choice of words or rough diction, which are not in accordance by moral values, values of local wisdom and religious teachings. The use of words that insult others personally even very far from the values of political education. According to the informants, political memes should be used as instruments to provide political education to the public properly and correctly. Only Informant 7 delivered a different answer, stating that he did not understand the meaning or purpose of the words contained in a political meme and considered it merely a language of humor.

International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology Vol. 29, No. 8, (2020), pp. 523-530

4. Conclusion The ability of social media users to perceive the existence of political satire in political memes can be used as an indicator of assessment related to one's experience and knowledge insights. As explained earlier in the results and discussion section in this article, about the survey results on reading interest which shows the low reading interest of Indonesian people, according to the author, it has a relation to one's ability to perceive messages both verbally and non-verbally distributed on the internet. From the results of interviews with all informants in this study, the researchers concluded that there are factors that cause a person will not immediately accept and give meaning to the information received - the obstinate audience theory - and the things that cause differences in one's perception of a message which is present through political memes on the internet. These influential factors are the educational background and cultural values adopted by a person. Research informants with higher education tend to have better abilities in perceiving a message compared to informants who have a lower educational background. This was revealed from the results of interviews with informants with different educational backgrounds, where the informants gave different perceptions about the messages or information conveyed in political memes and perceptions about the satire words contained in the memes. While the cultural background adopted by each informant did not show differences in perceptions among the research informants. Eastern culture which is known to be full of "taboo culture" causes all informants to give almost the same perception, namely that in political memes there are messages or information in the form of words or pictures that contain elements of moral violation because they do not correspond to traditional values. customs and teachings in religion. The ability of informants in interpreting the motives behind the messages contained in political memes is also influenced by media consumption patterns. The more people consume media, especially information about the economic situation and political situation, it will influence the ability to respond to a message or information related to political issues, even though it does not directly give effect because the pattern of media consumption is only an initial preference before give a decision or attitude.

5. Suggestions Meme has become an important tool to convey political expressions or attitudes in the use of new media platforms that are currently rife by our society, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, as well as WhatsApp. The phenomenon of the use of memes on social media in the dissemination of political information is very interesting, because memes in the form of parody images containing satire or funny things. Meme in the form of images and text has now become a new style in communicating and democratically digitally. New media experts even call it a "genre" in new media culture. The phenomenon of political memes spread on social media has drawn a variety of responses from the public. Deliberately or not, this can change the public mindset as a communication medium found in cyberspace. So Understanding information before criticizing/commenting and being wiser in using/enjoying memes is the best advice that must be done in this phenomenon. However, various memes, especially satire memes, are things that can be said to be negative, although they can also be positive. The rest is about how we understand to respond to it and be more careful when surfing the internet and social media in the face of information flow in this era of openness.

International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology Vol. 29, No. 8, (2020), pp. 523-530

Acknowledgement I thank the University Muhammadiyah Buton for funding support in this research and I would like to thank Dr. Suparman (Universitas Ahmad Dahlan) for valuable discussion and response in the improvement of this article.

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