Memes, Public Narratives, and Policy Perception: Social Media Discourses on Indonesia’s Free Meal Program
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31004/ijisk.v3i4.911Keywords:
Memes, Public narratives, Policy Perception, Digital Communication, Social MediaAbstract
The growth of participatory digital culture has transformed how citizens interpret and respond to public policies. Internet memes have become communicative tools for expressing criticism, negotiating meanings, and shaping collective interpretations of governance. However, their role in shaping perceptions of welfare policies, particularly in non-Western contexts, remains underexplored. This study examines how Instagram memes construct public narratives and policy perceptions surrounding Indonesia’s Free Nutritious Meal Program (MBG). Using a qualitative narrative-oriented approach, 32 memes were selected through purposive sampling based on their relevance to MBG discussions and visible engagement. The analysis examined external references, internal narratives, communicative tones, narrative targets, and recurring scenarios. Five dominant narratives emerged: fiscal burden and budget anxiety, institutional distrust, policy misprioritization, implementation failure, and political symbolism. Rather than emphasizing nutritional objectives, the memes predominantly frame MBG through concerns about governance, budget allocation, institutional competence, and accountability. The coexistence of fiscal anxiety and institutional distrust suggests that perceptions of MBG are closely associated with policy legitimacy and state capacity. These findings highlight meme circulation as an informal space where citizens negotiate trust, legitimacy, and acceptance of welfare policies. By examining memes as narrative mechanisms rather than merely humorous content, this study contributes to research on digital political communication, public narratives, and policy perception in networked societies.
References
Ahmed, S., & Masood, M. (2024). Breaking Barriers With Memes: How Memes Bridge Political Cynicism to Online Political Participation. Social Media and Society, 10(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051241261277
Alafnan, M. A. (2025). The Role of Memes in Shaping Political Discourse on Social Media. Studies in Media and Communication, 13(2), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.11114/smc.v13i2.7482
Archontaki, I., Karadimitriou, A., Giannouli, I., & Papathanassopoulos, S. (2024). Environmental Politics: Could Social Media in Greece Foster the Ground for an Alternative Environmental Agenda? Central European Journal of Communication, 17(3), 332–348. https://doi.org/10.51480/1899-5101.17.3(37).631
Bouckaert, G., & van de Walle, S. (2003). Comparing Measures of Citizen Trust and User Satisfaction as Indicators of ‘Good Governance’: Difficulties in Linking Trust and Satisfaction Indicators. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 69(3), 329–343. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852303693003
Cao, X. (2024). The Impacts of Political Internet Memes on Opinions: The Moderating Role of Political Party Identification. Southern Communication Journal, 89(3–4), 167–177. https://doi.org/10.1080/1041794X.2024.2345095
Carrasco-Polaino, R., Trelles-Villanueva, A., & Sánchez de la Nieta, M. Á. (2025). HUMOUR, PERSUASION, AND POLITICS: Impact of Memes on X During the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election Campaign. VISUAL Review. International Visual Culture Review / Revista Internacional de Cultura, 17(4), 313–324. https://doi.org/10.62161/revvisual.v17.5880
Cervi, L., & Divon, T. (2023). Playful Activism: Memetic Performances of Palestinian Resistance in TikTok #Challenges. Social Media and Society, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231157607
Chmel, K., Savin, N., & Carpini, M. X. D. (2024). Making Politics Attractive : Satirical Memes and Attention to Political Information in the New Media Environment. International Journal of Communication, 18, 2639–2660.
Christensen, T., & Lægreid, P. (2020). Balancing Governance Capacity and Legitimacy: How the Norwegian Government Handled the COVID-19 Crisis as a High Performer. Public Administration Review, 80(5), 774–779. https://doi.org/10.1111/PUAR.13241;PAGEGROUP:STRING:PUBLICATION
Davis, J. L., Love, T. P., & Killen, G. (2018). Seriously funny: The political work of humor on social media. New Media and Society, 20(10), 3898–3916. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444818762602;REQUESTEDJOURNAL:JOURNAL:NMSA
de Saint Laurent, C., Glăveanu, V. P., & Literat, I. (2021). Internet Memes as Partial Stories: Identifying Political Narratives in Coronavirus Memes. Social Media and Society, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305121988932
DePaula, N., & Hansson, S. (2025). Politicization of Government Social Media Communication: A Linguistic Framework and Case Study. Social Media and Society, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251333486
Fee, L. Y., & Jia, N. (2025). The influence of social media content on political identity with corruption perception as a moderator. Frontiers in Political Science, (November), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2025.1659804
Glazunova, S., & Amadoru, M. (2023). “Anti-Regime Influentials” Across Platforms: A Case Study of the Free Navalny Protests in Russia. Media and Communication, 11(3), 187–202. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v11i3.6643
Halversen, A., & Weeks, B. E. (2023). Memeing Politics: Understanding Political Meme Creators, Audiences, and Consequences on Social Media. Social Media and Society, 9(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231205588
Johann, M. (2022). Political participation in transition: Internet memes as a form of political expression in social media. Studies in Communication Sciences, 22(1), 149–154. https://doi.org/10.24434/j.scoms.2022.01.3005
Laineste, L., & Voolaid, P. (2017). Laughing across borders: Intertextuality of internet memes. The European Journal of Humour Research, 4(4), 26–49. https://doi.org/10.7592/ejhr2016.4.4.laineste
Literat, I., & van den Berg, S. (2019). Buy memes low, sell memes high: vernacular criticism and collective negotiations of value on Reddit’s MemeEconomy. Information, Communication & Society, 22(2), 232–249. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2017.1366540
López-Olano, C., Sánchez Castillo, S., & Peris, À. (2022). Video and emotionality in the social network sites during elections: The general election campaign of April 2019 in Spain. Catalan Journal of Communication and Cultural Studies, 14(1), 99–118. https://doi.org/10.1386/cjcs_00061_1
Mergel, I. (2013). Social media adoption and resulting tactics in the U.S. federal government. Government Information Quarterly, 30(2), 123–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2012.12.004
Mihăilescu, M.-G. (2024). Never Mess With the “Memers”: How Meme Creators Are Redefining Contemporary Politics. Social Media and Society, 10(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051241296256
Milner, R. M. (2012). Pop Polyvocality: Internet Memes, Public Participation, and the Occupy Wall Street Movement. International Journal of Communication. https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/1949/1015
Mintrom, M., & O’Connor, R. (2020). The importance of policy narrative: effective government responses to Covid-19. Policy Design and Practice, 3(3), 205–227. https://doi.org/10.1080/25741292.2020.1813358
Muya, P., & Onyinge, T. (2026). New Media, Meme Culture and Political Satire: The Role of Performative Art in Political Activism in Kenya. Social Science Computer Review. https://doi.org/10.1177/08944393261419776;Wgroup:String:Publication
Oyemade, O., & Adeagbo, A. (2020). Memes as Ideological Representations in the 2019 Nigerian Presidential Campaigns: A Multimodal Approach. Language and Semiotic Studies, 6(1), 78–103. https://doi.org/10.1515/lass-2020-060104
Pranata, A., & Widyatama, R. (2025). The Representation of Political Memes on Social Media X (Twitter): A Semiotic Analysis of Popular Culture Products. Communications, 7(2), 128–148.
Puluhulawa, F. Y. (2022). What Do Opinion Leaders Share from the New Normal on Twitter?: A Qualitative Content Analysis. Jurnal Ilmu Sosial Dan Ilmu Politik, 26(2), 183–196. https://doi.org/10.22146/jsp.71844
Rifki, M., & Basit, A. (2026). Building Public Trust Through Social Media Political Communication and Government Image. Communication, 17(1), 28–42.
Ross, A. S. (2021). THE DELEGITIMIZING POTENTIAL OF INTERNET MEMES IN POLITICAL COMMUNICATION: A CASE STUDY OF THE 2020 US ELECTION. The Routledge Companion to Political Journalism, 330–342. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429284571-31/DELEGITIMIZING-POTENTIAL-INTERNET-MEMES-POLITICAL-COMMUNICATION-CASE-STUDY-2020-US-ELECTION-ANDREW-ROSS
Tri Indah Rezeki, Rakhmat Wahyudin Sagala, & Rabukit Rabukit. (2024). From Humour to Impact: Internet Memes in Political Discourse through (de)legitimization. Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture, 746–762. https://doi.org/10.70082/esiculture.vi.788
van der Meer, T. W. G. (2016). Political Trust and the “Crisis of Democracy.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. https://doi.org/10.1093/ACREFORE/9780190228637.013.77
