Digital Ibuism and the Algorithmic Panopticon: Identity Negotiation and Privacy Management Among Indonesian Military Wives

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-622-2_5How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Algorithmic Surveillance; Military Wives; Digital Facework; Identity Gaps; State Ibuism

Abstract

As modern societies transition into algorithmic environments, the control mechanisms of total institutions have extended beyond physical boundaries into the digital public sphere. In Indonesia, the military operates as a total institution where the domestic and social lives of spouses are strictly governed by the legacy of State Ibuism and ex-officio hierarchies. This conceptual paper explores how this institutional control is reproduced digitally, transforming social media and networked platforms into an algorithmic panopticon that heavily surveils the digital footprints of military wives. Drawing upon Hecht’s Communication Theory of Identity (CTI) and Goffman’s dramaturgical framework, this study investigates the acute identity gaps these women experience when their personal autonomy clashes with the communal demands of institutional facework on algorithmic platforms. To survive this digital surveillance, military wives cultivate a specialized Digital Adaptive Communication Competence, this competence is operationalized through strict spatial segregation: performing highly scripted, compliant identities on algorithmic public frontstages (e.g., Instagram, Facebook) to protect institutional honor, while utilizing encrypted backstage networks (e.g., private WhatsApp groups) to express authentic personal identities and build peer resilience. By examining the intersection of gender, identity, and media surveillance, this paper offers a novel Global South perspective on how women in highly regimented organizations negotiate privacy, power, and algorithmic visibility.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Magvira Yuliani
AU  - Prahastiwi Utari
AU  - Ismi Dwi Astuti N
AU  - Tanti Hermawati
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/06
TI  - Digital Ibuism and the Algorithmic Panopticon: Identity Negotiation and Privacy Management Among Indonesian Military Wives
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Communication, Digital Ecosystem, and Society (ICODES 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 66
EP  - 80
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-622-2_5
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-622-2_5
ID  - Yuliani2026
ER  -