Using a Social Media Facebook to Develop Civic Engagement in Indonesia

Abstract

This research is aimed at exploring how to use Facebook to develop civic engagement in Klaten Regency Indonesia by the Info Cegatan Klaten (ICK) community. Technological advances result in the ease of communication in everyday life. However, these technological advances also have the effect of increasing personal egoism and lack of social care. Given this condition, the ICK community, as a Facebook virtual community, tries to build civic engagement to eliminate social disparities that occur using social media as the main media. This research used a descriptive qualitative approach. The sampling method was purposive sampling. In this study, 6 informants were taken. The data were collected using an interview, observation, and documentation. The interviews were conducted with the general chairperson of ICK, the treasurer, social media administrators, and 3 members of the community. Observations were made on the Facebook group page of the community and its activities. The data were then analyzed using the Miles and Huberman model which consists of three activities, namely data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing/verification. The results showed that the civic engagement was built through social media by: first, the ICK Community made the Facebook group an online space to collect information about Klaten's community problems; second, the ICK community utilizes the Facebook group features to invite the people around Klaten to become Stakeholders and join the discussions for the good of the community in the future; third, Facebook is used to provoke civic engagement by informing each agenda to be carried out.

Received: 6 October 2020 / Accepted: 23 December 2020 / Published: 5 March 2021