Social Media Ethics on Instagram as a Virtual Public Space for Teenagers

Abstract

The understanding of ethics in interaction with social media is different for each individual. Some people consider social media as a public space that must maintain boundaries of behavior and others consider social media as a medium of expression to show self-identity. Problems that arise in the use of social media include the fusion of private space with the public space of its users, especially on Instagram social media. This research uses a virtual ethnography strategy with a qualitative research approach. The type of research used is descriptive qualitative with the population of this research is teenagers who are active Instagram users. The first finding is the ethics of drawing boundaries between public and private space on Instagram. How Instagram social media blurs the boundaries between public and private matters. This research also reveals the ethics and interactions that occur in the social media space of Instagram.