Digital Public Sphere: Message Construction of Menfess Accounts Within an Islamic Communication Framework
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70489/perspektif.v4i2.1211Keywords:
menfess account, Islamic communication, digital public sphere, social justice, message construction, anonymityAbstract
Social media proliferation has reshaped the digital public sphere into a new arena for social justice discourse, including Islamic communication practices. Menfess accounts, anonymous message channels on Instagram and Twitter, have become a distinctive phenomenon where da'wah, social critique, and justice narratives are constructed without disclosing the sender's identity. This study maps the message-construction mechanisms of menfess accounts and examines their representation through three Qur'anic communication principles: qaulan sadida, qaulan baligha, and qaulan masyura. Employing a qualitative approach grounded in Hjarvard's mediatization theory, the research analyzed 50 menfess messages on social justice from January to March 2026 through digital observation and content analysis. Findings reveal three dominant patterns: an anonymous-narrative pattern leveraging identity invisibility for critique free from authority pressure; a dialogical pattern reflecting the shura principle to cultivate public reasoning; and a communicative-ethics pattern that consistently internalizes qaulan sadida, qaulan baligha, and qaulan masyura. The results affirm that menfess accounts function as a democratic justice arena, resonant with an Islamic-inflected reading of Habermas's public sphere. This study enriches contemporary Islamic communication theory and offers practical guidance for da'wah media managers designing inclusive, justice-oriented digital spaces.
Downloads
References
Bowen, G. A. (2009). Document analysis as a qualitative research method. Qualitative Research Journal, 9(2), 27–40. https://doi.org/10.3316/QRJ0902027
Christopherson, K. M. (2007). The positive and negative implications of anonymity in internet social interactions. Computers in Human Behavior, 23(6), 3038–3056. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2006.09.001
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Eickelman, D. F., & Anderson, J. W. (Eds.) (2003). New media in the Muslim world: The emerging public sphere (2nd ed.). Indiana University Press.
Fatimah, S., & Lubis, D. P. (2022). Keadilan sosial dalam narasi media sosial: Analisis framing akun aktivisme digital. Jurnal Ilmu Komunikasi, 20(1), 45–62. https://doi.org/10.24002/jik.v20i1.4891
Finlay, L. (2002). Negotiating the swamp: The opportunity and challenge of reflexivity in research practice. Qualitative Research, 2(2), 209–230. https://doi.org/10.1177/146879410200200205
Fraser, N. (1990). Rethinking the public sphere: A contribution to the critique of actually existing democracy. Social Text, 25/26, 56–80. https://doi.org/10.2307/466240
Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Aldine.
Guest, G., Bunce, A., & Johnson, L. (2006). How many interviews are enough? An experiment with data saturation and variability. Field Methods, 18(1), 59–82. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X05279903
Habermas, J. (1984). The theory of communicative action: Vol. 1. Reason and the rationalization of society. Beacon Press.
Habermas, J. (1989). The structural transformation of the public sphere. MIT Press. (Original work published 1962).
Hasan, N. (2021). Islam dan ruang publik digital: Diskursus keagamaan di media sosial Indonesia. Islamica: Jurnal Studi Keislaman, 15(2), 289–314. https://doi.org/10.15642/islamica.2021.15.2.289-314
Hine, C. (2015). Ethnography for the internet: Embedded, embodied and everyday. Bloomsbury Academic.
Hjarvard, S. (2011). The mediatisation of religion: Theorising religion, media and social change. Culture and Religion, 12(2), 119–135. https://doi.org/10.1080/14755610.2011.579719
Hjarvard, S. (2013). The mediatization of culture and society. Routledge.
Ishak, A. (2012). Komunikasi Islam: Antara konsep dan praktik. Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, 28(2), 45–60.
Juditha, C. (2017). Hoaks dan disinformasi di media sosial. Jurnal Pekommas, 3(1), 31–44. https://doi.org/10.30818/jpkm.2018.2030104
Kholili, M. (2011). Komunikasi untuk dakwah: Suatu pengantar studi. Jurnal Dakwah, 12(1), 1–18.
Kozinets, R. V. (2020). Netnography: The essential guide to qualitative social media research (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications.
Landis, J. R., & Koch, G. G. (1977). The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics, 33(1), 159–174. https://doi.org/10.2307/2529310
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. SAGE Publications.
Mayring, P. (2014). Qualitative content analysis: Theoretical foundation, basic procedures and software solution. Beltz.
Mowlana, H. (1996). Global communication in transition: The end of diversity?. SAGE Publications.
Nasrullah, R. (2015). Media sosial: Perspektif komunikasi, budaya, dan sosioteknologi. Simbiosa Rekatama Media.
Patton, M. Q. (2015). Qualitative research & evaluation methods (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Putri, A. R., & Setiawan, B. (2024). Anonimitas sebagai strategi komunikasi: Kajian terhadap akun menfess bertemakan sosial. Jurnal Studi Komunikasi, 8(1), 77–96. https://doi.org/10.25139/jsk.v8i1.6712
Rahayu, N., Kuswarno, E., & Maryani, E. (2020). Fenomena akun anonim di Twitter: Studi kasus menfess mahasiswa. Jurnal Komunikasi, 14(2), 101–118. https://doi.org/10.20885/komunikasi.vol14.iss2.art1
Salvatore, A., & Eickelman, D. F. (Eds.) (2004). Public Islam and the common good. Brill.
Starks, H., & Trinidad, S. B. (2007). Choose your method: A comparison of phenomenology, discourse analysis, and grounded theory. Qualitative Health Research, 17(10), 1372–1380. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732307307031
Suler, J. (2004). The online disinhibition effect. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 7(3), 321–326. https://doi.org/10.1089/1094931041291295
van Dijck, J. (2013). The culture of connectivity: A critical history of social media. Oxford University Press.
Yusuf, M., & Fauzi, A. (2019). Dakwah digital dan tantangan komunikasi Islam di era 4.0. Jurnal Komunikasi Islam, 9(2), 215–238. https://doi.org/10.15642/jki.2019.9.2.215-238
Downloads
Published
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Uli Susanti Sri Awan, Suhendri Suhendri, Ricka Adelia Munthe (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
