DIGITAL PUBLIC SPHERE DALAM MERESPON KEBIJAKAN KENAIKAN BIAYA PENDIDIKAN PERGURUAN TINGGI MELALUI APLIKASI TWITTER DI INDONESIA

Abstract

The issuance of Permendikbud No. 2 Year 2024 has an impact on the increase in the cost of education at the tertiary level which then causes a rejection response from the community. Digital transformation has changed the way the public participates in responding to the policy, which is now done through Twitter as a digital public sphere. This study aims to determine the process and pattern of public participation in responding to the policy of increasing tuition fees at the tertiary level carried out through Twitter as a digital public sphere using a mix method. Data were obtained through interviews, observations and data crawling which were then processed descriptively qualitatively and also quantitatively using the social network analysis method to obtain data interpretation. Public participation on Twitter as an accessible digital public sphere allows people to be actively involved in discussions and the formation of public opinion. Intervention from buzzers does not hinder the formation of public opinion so that public participation still succeeds in encouraging the government to cancel the policy of increasing tuition fees at the tertiary level in Indonesia. Social network analysis shows that there is a complex and tenuous network pattern of public participation with diverse discussions in various small groups in the network. Meanwhile, the news media tempodotco became influential in disseminating information and encouraging massive participation to influence the policy of increasing tuition fees at the tertiary level.