Social Network Analysis of Basic Necessity Scarcity on Twitter: Evidence from Indonesia

Abstract

The scarcity of basic necessities, a popular discussion topic in Indonesia, poses significant challenges to the citizens. Indonesians frequently comment on the issue on social media, including Twitter, which is perceived as a democratic public space to express opinions, interests, and information discursively in establishing communications as part of intercultural dialogues. The current study aims to analyse relevant communication networks and content regarding the topic of fundamental necessity scarcity in Indonesia on Twitter. Specifically, a cross-sectional design was employed with social network analysis (SNA) and content analysis (CA) conducted on public Twitter accounts. The study discovered a low communication intensity between nodes due to the existing dominance of several central actors. Simultaneously, the most frequently employed words were food, oil, cooking, the task force, and the hashtag phrase “punishthehoardersofcookingoil”. Auto-coded sentiment results demonstrated 8,963 references at neutral levels, 566 with moderately negative degrees, 500 with high negative levels, 90 with moderately positive, and 21 with highly positive degrees. The findings propounded that Twitter is an online public space, allowing autonomous and unrestricted debates on pertinent topics.