DEINDIVIDUATION PHENOMENON IN ONLINE MEDIA (Study on Netizen Comments in Presidential Election News)
Susi Yunarti, Dian Harmaningsih, Wijayanti, Meysanti
Persada Indonesia University YAI
Abstract
The development of new media has brought people to the "other world", many of them, feeling themselves not being grounded in a world of reality, which is full of social values that are usually upheld in everyday life. One of the effects is the emergence of deindividuation phenomenon, in which a person loses self-awareness and decreases the fear of the individual in giving comments in the media because they feel in a certain group. This study aims to explain how deindividuation phenomenon arise in the virtual world, especially on online news media using the deindividuation theory of Gustav Le Bon. Deindividuation phenomenon can be seen in online news media, when someone comments on news about one of the presidential candidates that he does not support with inappropriate words. Values of politeness, ethics and religion seem to be ignored. Power to give comments raised because as one group of supporters of certain candidates. Anonymous conditions have reduced a persons self-awareness and made his feelings of fear disappear.
Keywords: Deindividuation, Netizen Comments, Presidential Election News, online media, qualitative research
Topic: International Symposium on Social Sciences, Humanities, Education, and Religious Studies