Leksema: Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra
Vol. 10 No. 2 (2025)

THE DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS OF PROTESTS AGAINST GOVERNMENT POLICIES BY INSTAGRAM POSTS

Herlin Triana (Universitas Negeri Padang)
Vivi Indriyani (Universitas Negeri Padang)
Rohaidah Haron (Universiti Malaya)
Delsy Arma Putri (Universitas Negeri Padang)



Article Info

Publish Date
15 Nov 2025

Abstract

Social media has become an influential arena for expressing critical perspectives and resistance toward socio-political challenges. Its role in accelerating the circulation of information and shaping public responses is particularly evident in political contexts. This study investigates the implicit and explicit meanings conveyed in Instagram posts from the @serikatpekerjakampus account, employing a pragmatic discourse framework to examine how meanings are constructed and communicated. Using a descriptive qualitative approach, the research identifies speech acts and implicatures that appear within the multimodal discourse of the posts. The findings reveal that expressive illocutionary acts and imperative implicatures dominate communication strategies. These results indicate that while textual and visual elements apply different modes of meaning-making, they converge toward the same communicative objectives. The multimodal analysis further demonstrates that symbols, idioms, and images serve as semiotic resources of the protests against government policies and reinforce the posts’ critical stance. The implications of these findings highlight Instagram as a strategic platform for fostering critical discourse with strong pragmatic effects on shaping public opinion. In addition, this research positions social media as a significant subject of inquiry within critical linguistics and multimodal studies. Ultimately, the presence of digital criticism illustrates the tangible impact of social media practices on policy-making processes in contemporary socio-political landscapes.

Copyrights © 2025






Journal Info

Abbrev

leksema

Publisher

Subject

Humanities Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media

Description

Leksema: Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra (Leksema: Language and Literature Journal) is a double-blind peer-reviewed scholarly journal focusing on disseminating research results and conceptual works from language and literature fields of study by publishing them into scientific articles. The linguistic ...