The Role of Online Communities in Shaping Political Movements: A Case Study of #IndonesiaGue

Abstract

The rise of online communities has significantly transformed political mobilization and participation in Indonesia, reshaping how citizens engage with political movements beyond traditional organizational structures. This study examines the role of online communities in shaping political movements through a case study of the #IndonesiaGue movement, a digitally driven initiative that mobilized social media users to advocate for political change and civic accountability. Employing a qualitative case study approach, the research analyzes social media content, online interactions, movement narratives, and media coverage related to #IndonesiaGue to explore how digital spaces facilitate collective identity formation and political engagement. The findings indicate that the #IndonesiaGue movement leveraged decentralized communication, participatory hashtags, and user-generated content to lower barriers to political involvement and enable rapid mobilization across diverse social groups. Online communities functioned as spaces for deliberation, symbolic resistance, and narrative contestation, allowing participants to express political grievances and aspirations outside formal political institutions. However, the study also identifies structural limitations, including fragmented leadership, short-lived engagement, and challenges in translating online activism into sustained offline political outcomes. The urgency of this research lies in the growing reliance on digital platforms as arenas of political participation in Indonesia’s evolving democracy. This study contributes to political communication and digital activism scholarship by providing an empirically grounded analysis of how online communities operate as political actors within networked movements. It concludes that while digital spaces expand opportunities for democratic participation, their effectiveness depends on the capacity of online communities to sustain engagement and connect digital mobilization with broader political processes.