Local elections in Indonesia increasingly unfold through digital networks that connect campaign organisations, community groups, public officials, and customary actors. Existing studies often measure exposure or individual political attitudes, but provide less explanation of how local online networks circulate messages and convert digital visibility into political action. This study examines digital political mobilization in Bengkulu Province using a qualitative netnographic design. Observation across WhatsApp, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram was combined with semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, document review, and offline observation during one electoral cycle. The analysis integrates network interaction indicators with a formal-customary authority framework to examine reach, reciprocity, brokerage, legitimacy, and conversion into offline participation. The findings identify a layered campaign ecosystem and four recurring network forms: Directed Hierarchy, Affinity Cluster, Creator Swarm, and Endorsement Relay. Formal administrative authority primarily provides procedural reach, whereas customary and religious authority provides normative endorsement. Actors positioned across both authority systems function as hybrid brokers who move political messages between campaign structures and community networks. Digital participation is extensive in exposure but limited in deliberation, and high-reach networks do not necessarily generate strong offline participation. The results indicate that local digital mobilization is most effective when online circulation is embedded in pre-existing relationships that carry social accountability. The study develops a hybrid legitimacy brokerage interpretation of digital mobilization and highlights implications for electoral supervision, public-sector neutrality, and civic communication in local communities.
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