Tatak Setiadi, Mohammad Fikri Haikal, Aditya Fahmi Nurwahid, Muhammad Raymizzaad Noor, Zhafira Dwi Hapsari Sugiarto, Diva Katherina Eka Puri
The rise of youth-led digital environmental movements necessitates a deeper understanding of the communication strategies that drive their influence. This study provides an analysis of how the Indonesian activist collective, Pandawara Group, builds its movement and influences public discourse through Instagram Reels. Employing a critical-social constructivist approach, this research conducts a qualitative content analysis of 137 Instagram Reels from 2024. It utilizes a dual theoretical framework, integrating media framing with the ecocultural identity framework to decode both the messaging tactics and the activist identity being performed. The findings reveal that Pandawara’s Project stems from the strategic performance of a dual identity: the empathetic “Moral Guardian,” built with “Morality/Ethics” frames, and the inclusive “Pragmatic Collaborator,” constructed with “Middle Way” frames. This dual identity is deployed through a cyclical narrative arc that adapts to the socio-political calendar, with messaging that shifts during events such as elections or World Environment Day. The analysis further identifies a platform-specific strategy tailored to Instagram, reflecting a strategy of grassroots accountability in a non-Western context. The Pandawara communication strategy offers a template for digital activism, proving that combining moral framing with a collaborative spirit can create powerful ecosystems for social change. © 2025 University of Zadar. All rights reserved.
Universitas Negeri, Surabaya, Indonesia
