The Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (FISHUM) UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta today held a seminar series entitled "The Scrolling Generation: Youth, Affect, and the Machinery of Algorithmic Politics." The event presented Prof. Merlyna Lim from Carleton University, Canada, who dissected her latest work entitled Social Media and Politics in Southeast Asia (Cambridge University Press, 2024).The Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (FISHUM) UIN Sunan Kalijaga organized a Seminar Series entitled "The Scrolling Generation: Youth, Affect, and the Machinery of Algorithmic Politics", held at the FISHUM Conference Room. The event presented Prof. Merlyna Lim (Carleton University, Canada) as the main speaker and author of the book Social Media and Politics in Southeast Asia (Cambridge University Press, 2024), with Dr. Rama Kertamukti (FISHUM UIN Sunan Kalijaga) as a book reviewer, and moderated by Durottal Masudah, M.A.
In her presentation, Prof. Merlyna Lim highlighted the importance of understanding social media not only as a means of democratization, but also as a new machine for consolidating political power in Southeast Asia. Through her book, Lim introduced key concepts such as algorithmic politics, communicative capitalism, algorithmic marketing culture, and algorithmic enclaves.
In the seminar that took place at the FISHUM Conference Room, Prof. Merlyna Lim explained how social media in Southeast Asia has shaped the contemporary political landscape in a complex manner. She emphasized that the relationship between social media and politics is co-constitutive, where political forces not only utilize social media, but also shape it according to the interests of power.
“The internet and social media are not egalitarian spaces as many people imagine,” Prof. Lim said. He highlighted how the scale-free network structure of social media creates new inequalities, strengthening dominant actors such as governments and technology companies.
The seminar also presented Dr. Rama Kartamukti from FISHUM UIN Sunan Kalijaga as a book reviewer. In his review, Dr. Rama appreciated the critical approach taken by Prof. Lim, especially in introducing concepts such as algorithmic marketing culture and algorithmic enclaves. According to him, this understanding is very relevant to examine the development of digital politics in Indonesia, which has recently been increasingly influenced by disinformation and emotion-based polarization.
The book Social Media and Politics in Southeast Asia explores important phenomena, such as the use of social media in the #ReformasiDikorupsi movement in Indonesia, Duterte's disinformation-based campaign in the Philippines, and the role of TikTok in the 2022 Malaysian elections. Prof. Lim also highlighted how platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have become key tools both for progressive activism and for reinforcing authoritarianism.
The seminar, moderated by Durrotul Masudah, M.A., was attended by students, lecturers, and researchers from various universities. The participants actively discussed how to build critical digital literacy and strengthen public communication ethics amid the challenges of algorithms and digital capitalism.
This event is part of the efforts of FISHUM UIN Sunan Kalijaga to continue to present critical academic forums that discuss contemporary issues in the social and humanities, especially those related to the dynamics of digital culture in Southeast Asia.