DIGITAL AND DOMESTIC ECOSYSTEMS: THE POLITICAL POLARIZATION OF GENERATION Z IN CYBERSPACE AND THE CONVERGENCE OF FAMILY AUTHORITY

Abstract

Digital transformation and post-election dominance of Generation Z have shifted the local political landscape and the dynamics of family authority in Singaraja City. The massive social media ecosystem presents a new challenge to traditional deliberation values in the domestic sphere. This descriptive qualitative research with a case study design aims to describe the form of Generation Z's digital ecosystem, analyze family authority negotiations in the midst of cyber information invasions, and formulate a transformation of family deliberation. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, observations, and documentation of 12 purposively selected key informants (students, PPKn lecturers, parents, academics, and election organizers), then analyzed using the interactive model of Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña. The results show that: (1) TikTok, Instagram, and X algorithms form echo chambers and filter bubbles that reinforce the cognitive polarization of Generation Z; (2) social media triggers the phenomenon of reverse socialization, where Gen Z students act as agents of digital political literacy for their parents; and (3) family authorities adapt compromatically through the metamorphosis of 'hybrid deliberation' in family WhatsApp message groups while maintaining local wisdom of the same family. This study concludes that family authority is not eroded, but undergoes an adaptive reconfiguration of deliberations to mitigate the risk of cyber polarization and maintain domestic harmony. The implication is that this hybrid deliberation model is crucial to be developed as a digital citizenship education strategy.