The fragile upper subject: Gender, digital discourse, and superego collapse in contemporary Indonesian media

Udasmoro, Wening
Marai, Leo
Firmonasari, Aprillia

Jurnal Komunikasi
Vol. 20 No. 1 (2026): VOLUME 20 NO 1 APRIL 2026

Studies have been exploring the processes of identity constructionincreasingly intertwined with the behaviors of netizens. The construction ofself-identity is now entangled with global capitalism. The contribution of thisarticle is the exploration of the Superego as a site of vulnerability in the age ofsocial media. In the current media environment, this vulnerability of theSuperego is observable through the figure of the prominent individual whosevisibility, amplified by significant social capital, draws both admiration andhostility from followers. This paper introduces the concept of the UpperSubject to understand such figures. This study focuses on two political figureswho can be categorized as Upper Subjects based on the number of followersthey command on social media: Khofifah Indar Parawansa (the Governor ofEast Java) and Dedi Mulyadi (the Governor of West Java). Both serve as theprimary subjects of this analysis. The study adopts a Critical DiscourseAnalysis (CDA) method to examine how these Upper Subjects are constructedand contested within digital discourse.