<![CDATA[This study aims to explore in depth the construction of meaning regarding stock investment among Generation Z and to identify how social media interactions influence their lived experiences in making financial decisions. The current surge of young investors in the capital market marks a cultural deconstruction of financial activity, driven by the proliferation of financial literacy narratives in the digital space. This study employs a qualitative approach using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Primary data were gathered through semi-structured, in-depth interviews with eight Generation Z informants who actively trade stocks and are intensively exposed to financial content on social media platforms. A sociological analysis using the lens of the Social Construction of Reality theory reveals that the meaning of stock investment for Generation Z manifests in three key essences. First, investment is perceived as a symbol of financial independence and a means of fulfilling a modern lifestyle. Second, social media through the role of "finfluencers" acts ambivalently as both an accelerator of informal financial literacy and a trigger for acute psychological anxiety, specifically the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) phenomenon. Third, empirical encounters with capital market volatility spark a transformation in the informants' awareness of their economic agency, shifting the orientation of meaning from short-term speculation toward future protection based on self-managed risk. This study concludes that for Generation Z, stock investment is not merely a rational economic instrument but a space for articulating social identity and self-actualization, dialectically constructed by the digital ecosystem.]]>
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