The Cross-Generations Response of Indonesian Muslims To Ideological Issues In Online Media

Abstract

This study aimed to provide an overview of the Muslims’ responses across generations to ideological issues related to Communism, LGBT and radical Islam in online media. The response to ideological issues by the Moslems is important because Islam is the majority religion in Indonesia. The responses from Muslims to the issues of Communism, LGBT, and radical Islam will determine the continuity of the Islam in Indonesia. The theories applied in this study were theory of the media role as agents of production, reproduction and distribution of knowledge to society; media influence mechanisms; and reception theory about the audience's response to a stimulus. The research method used the reception analysis method. Data analysis was carried out through three main elements, namely: data collection, data analysis, and data interpretation. This data analysis involved three categories of responses, i.e. dominance, negotiation, and opposition and analysis of their social context. The results showed that the four categories across generations had different acceptance responses to the issues studied. The issue of Communism received a dominant acceptance response by the baby boomer generation and gen X, while gen Y and gen Z were in opposition. For LGBT issues, the baby boomers, gen X, gen Y and gen Z were all in opposition. For the issue of radical Islam, the baby boomers were in negotiations, while the gen X was in opposition. Meanwhile, gen Y and gen Z were dominant. The digital native and digital immigrant generations both had a dismissive response to the LGBT issues. The digital native generation had good acceptance of the communism and radical Islam issues, while the digital immigrant generation rejected the communism and radical Islam issues. The environment and social interactions affected the respondents’ response to the ideological issues they received through online media.