Youth Digital Activism on the “Pesta Babi” Documentary: Comparative Analysis of TikTok and X

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-622-2_13How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Youth Digital Activism; Participatory Culture; Algorithmic Media; TikTok; X/Twitter

Abstract

The release of the documentary film “Pesta Babi” triggered a wave of digital activism among young people, particularly regarding the crucial issues of food estates and the rights of Indigenous communities in Papua. This study examines how young people use social media platforms such as TikTok and X to express their concerns about these issues and focuses on the differences in participation patterns across the two platforms. Using a qualitative approach based on the theories of Henry Jenkins and Manuel Castells, this research explores how hashtags, videos, and threads can form a collective movement. The findings show that young people use TikTok and X in different ways. On TikTok, they utilize powerful visuals to evoke emotions and raise public awareness. On X, they engage in discussions, share data, and organize real-world actions. Ultimately, this study finds that although algorithms can help an issue go viral, they also control how the issue is perceived by the public. For activism to be effective, young people need to understand how digital platforms work and how these platforms curate their messages, as this will help them create a greater impact.

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  - Fajar Maulana
AU  - Nur’annafi Farni Syam Maela
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/06
TI  - Youth Digital Activism on the “Pesta Babi” Documentary: Comparative Analysis of TikTok and X
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Communication, Digital Ecosystem, and Society (ICODES 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 187
EP  - 198
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-622-2_13
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-622-2_13
ID  - Maulana2026
ER  -