A PHENOMENOLOGICAL READING OF EXISTENTIAL EXPRESSIONS IN YOUTH SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS: A LINGUISTIC AND CULTURAL INTERPRETATION

Ratna Sari Dewi; M. Manugeren; Efendi Barus

doi:10.35473/pho.v9i1.4637

Authors

Ratna Sari Dewi Universitas Muslim Nusantara Al-Washliyah
M. Manugeren Universitas Islam Sumatera Utara
Efendi Barus Universitas Islam Sumatera Utara

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35473/pho.v9i1.4637

Keywords:

Phenomenology, Existential Meaning, Youth Social Media, Linguistic Analysis, Cultural Interpretation

Abstract

This study explores how young people articulate existential meaning through their social media posts, employing a qualitative phenomenological approach to interpret their lived emotional and cultural experiences. Focusing on linguistic patterns and thematic expressions, the research analyzes how adolescents express concerns related to identity, purpose, emotional disconnection, and resilience within digital spaces. A corpus of youth-generated posts from platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and X was examined using thematic, linguistic, and phenomenological analysis. Findings reveal three major existential themes: purpose-seeking, loneliness and the paradox of digital visibility, and hope-driven self-reconstruction. Purpose-seeking expressions often employed progressive verb forms—such as “searching,” “trying,” and “figuring out” indicating an ongoing process of meaning-making rather than a fixed goal. Posts related to loneliness highlighted the tension between being seen and being understood, reflecting emotional vulnerability mediated by digital interaction. Meanwhile, affirmations of hope and resilience demonstrated future-oriented modal constructions that signaled efforts toward emotional recovery and agency. Culturally, the study shows that social media serves as a liminal space in which youth negotiate societal expectations, articulate vulnerabilities, and construct emerging identities. Overall, the findings suggest that existential expressions in youth digital communication are deeply shaped by linguistic choices and cultural environments, revealing social media as a critical site for understanding contemporary youth experiences.

References

Alasuutari, P. (2020). Qualitative research and cultural analysis after the cultural turn. SAGE Publications.

Altheide, D. L., & Snow, R. P. (2019). Media logic and cultural change. Routledge.

Barker, C. (2021). Cultural studies: Theory and practice (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.

Baym, N. K. (2023). Personal connections in the digital age (4th ed.). Polity Press.

Boyd, d. (2024). It’s complicated: The social lives of networked teens (Updated ed.). Yale University Press.

Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2023). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five

approaches (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.

Davis, K. (2020). Friendship, pressure, and emotional communication online. Journal of Youth Studies, 23(9),

1125–1140. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2019.1636012

Doe, J., & Smith, A. (2023). Social media, youth identity, and linguistic practice: Understanding digital

discourse in emerging generations. Journal of Digital Communication Studies, 9(1), 22–38.

https://doi.org/10.54789/jdcs.2023.09122

Fauzah, N. N. R., & Hidayati, Y. (2023). The meaning of Indonesian culture in the vocabulary of Indonesian

language textbooks for Japanese speakers. Philosophica: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, dan Budaya, 6(2), 93. https://doi.org/10.35473/po.v6i2.2625

Goffman, E. (2021). The presentation of self in everyday life (Reissued ed.). Anchor Books.

Heidegger, M. (2019). Being and time (Revised ed., J. Stambaugh, Trans.). SUNY Press.

Husserl, E. (2019). Ideas: General introduction to pure phenomenology (New translation). Routledge.

Ibrahim, Y. (2022). Emotional self-representation in social media cultures. New Media & Society, 24(3), 622–

640. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820985143

Ibrahim, Z., & Leng, H. K. (2021). Youth identity and linguistic hybridity on Instagram. Discourse, Context &

Media, 41, 100507. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2021.100507

Illouz, E. (2020). Emotions as commodities: Capitalism, culture and emotional life. Polity Press.

Kendall, L. (2022). Digital cultures (2nd ed.). Routledge.

Kirmayer, L. J. (2021). Cultural narratives of emotion and youth well-being. Transcultural Psychiatry, 58(6),

947–964. https://doi.org/10.1177/13634615211023476

Marwick, A. E. (2023). Status update: Celebrity, publicity, and branding in the social media age (Updated ed.).

Yale University Press.

Merleau-Ponty, M. (2019). Phenomenology of perception (Revised ed.). Routledge.

Melissa, P., Siregar, M. B. N., Shakira, F. M., Haz, L., & Rangkuti, R. (2024). Sociolinguistic study: Variation

of slang words between Gen Z and Gen Alpha. Philosophica: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, dan Budaya, 7(2).https://doi.org/10.35473/po.v7i2.3545

Niemi, R., & Björkqvist, K. (2022). Existential concerns in adolescent social media expression. Journal of

Adolescent Research, 37(4), 528–550. https://doi.org/10.1177/07435584211010681

Otta, B. M. I., Arvianti, I., & Heriyanto, E. (2022). Cohesion and coherence in students’ thesis abstract writing.

Philosophica: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, dan Budaya, 5(2), 73–76. https://doi.org/10.35473/po.v5i2.1939

Pangrazio, L., & Sefton-Green, J. (2021). Youth digital identities and everyday meaning-making. Learning,

Media and Technology, 46(2), 228–241. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2020.1762212

Rettberg, J. W. (2023). Seeing ourselves through technology: How we use selfies, blogs, and wearable devices

to form identity (2nd ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.

Rosenberg, R. S., & Egbert, N. (2020). Online emotional disclosure and mental health. NoCyberpsychology,

Behavior, and Social Networking, 23(8), 525–532. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2019.0782

Smith, J. A., Flowers, P., & Larkin, M. (2022). Interpretative phenomenological analysis: Theory, method and

research (Updated ed.). SAGE Publications.

Turkle, S. (2022). The empathy diaries: A memoir. Penguin Press.

van Manen, M. (2021). Researching lived experience: Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy (3rd

ed.). Routledge.

Vásquez, C. (2022). Language, creativity and humour online. Routledge.

van Manen, M. (2016). Phenomenology of practice: Meaning-giving methods in phenomenological research

and writing. Routledge.Zappavigna, M. (2015). Searchable talk: The linguistic functions of hashtags. Social Semiotics, 25(3), 274–291. https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2014.996948