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Submitted
July 22, 2025
Accepted
January 22, 2026
Published
April 30, 2026
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Abstract

Studies have been exploring the processes of identity construction
increasingly intertwined with the behaviors of netizens. The construction of
self-identity is now entangled with global capitalism. The contribution of this
article is the exploration of the Superego as a site of vulnerability in the age of
social media. In the current media environment, this vulnerability of the
Superego is observable through the figure of the prominent individual whose
visibility, amplified by significant social capital, draws both admiration and
hostility from followers. This paper introduces the concept of the Upper
Subject to understand such figures. This study focuses on two political figures
who can be categorized as Upper Subjects based on the number of followers
they command on social media: Khofifah Indar Parawansa (the Governor of
East Java) and Dedi Mulyadi (the Governor of West Java). Both serve as the
primary subjects of this analysis. The study adopts a Critical Discourse
Analysis (CDA) method to examine how these Upper Subjects are constructed
and contested within digital discourse.

Keywords

Upper Subjects Gender Superego Social Media CDA

Article Details

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Copyright (c) 2026 Wening Udasmoro, Leo Marai, Aprillia Firmonasari

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How to Cite
Udasmoro, W., Marai, L. ., & Firmonasari, A. . (2026). The fragile upper subject: Gender, digital discourse, and superego collapse in contemporary Indonesian media. Jurnal Komunikasi, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.20885/komunikasi.vol20.iss1.art1
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