Society of Spectacle (Analisis Representasi Identitas dan Masyarakat Tontonan di Media Sosial Instagram)

Abstract

The existence of society, especially Generation Z seen through online status, indirectly becomes a form of mediation Generation Z that has been confined by the media. Gen Z is an active group of people using social media, especially Instagram. Watching other people's activities and even sharing their activities with aesthetic content to social media has become routine for them. The activity triggers Gen Z to become a spectator at once that is watched by others, or called the Spectacle community. This research aims to find out the process of creating identity representation into a Spectacle society conducted by Generation Z on social media Instagram. The methods used in this study are descriptive with qualitative approaches, through digital or online methods such as video calls in conducting interviews. The informant determination in this research used a purposive sampling technique, with seven criteria, by interviewing ten informants. The data presentation referred to Guy Debord's Spectacle theory to indicate society's reality of the Spectacle from Gen Z's identity representation in Instagram social media. The result of this research showed that Gen Z represented themselves through several stages to become a Spectacle of the society. Gen Z, who was a performer, would shape their identity according to their desire and freedom through their internal and external. After doing the identity formation, Gen Z would represent their identity through the bio and photo content that was aesthetic which was useful to represent the identity and attract attention, key opinion leader (KOL) and became the portfolio that would be uploaded to Instagram. The followers would respond to the photo through like, comment, and share. That Spectacle would become the subject of consideration for followers, and the response would become Gen Z’s motivation to represent their identity.