Indonesian Journal of Language and Communication Studies
Vol. 1 No. 3 (2026): Digital citizenship, identity, and public discourse in Indonesia

Performing the nation online: Multimodal government communication and the visual politics of Indonesian identity

Hasanudin (Universitas Islam Negeri Profesor Kiai Haji Saifuddin Zuhri Purwokerto)



Article Info

Publish Date
30 Sep 2026

Abstract

Background: Indonesia's official digital communication increasingly performs national identity through multimodal arrangements of image, caption, logo, color, place, institutional voice, and platform format rather than through verbal policy messages alone. Objective: This research examines how Indonesian government and state-linked online channels construct, standardize, and circulate national identity across official visual-symbolic, cultural, territorial, and digital-governance materials. Method: Using a qualitative multimodal critical discourse design, this research analyzes 23 publicly accessible official digital items through a multimodal identity grid, a visibility hierarchy matrix, and a platformed government performance protocol. Results: Heritage, tourism, and cultural diversity formed the dominant assemblage, indicating that national belonging is most often made recognizable through curated places, landscapes, cultural motifs, museums, and regional heritage. Official visual systems and territorial-developmental narratives translated nationhood into standardized symbols, downloadable guidelines, Independence Day themes, and spatial imaginaries of Jakarta, Nusantara, and national progress. Digital citizenship appeared through literacy, safety, and child-protection frames, while participation remained institutionally bounded through polling, reuse, and campaign interaction. Implication: These findings show that online nation-making functions as controlled visibility, where diversity is displayed, standardized, and circulated through official platform infrastructures. Novelty: This research contributes an integrated framework for analyzing multimodal government communication as platformed national performance online.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

ijlc

Publisher

Subject

Description

Indonesian Journal of Language and Communication Studies is a double blind peer-reviewed scholarly journal that publishes original research articles and critical studies in the fields of language and communication. This journal is published as a platform for the dissemination of theoretical, ...