Many People Buy Blue Checks on Instagram, UM Surabaya Lecturers Give Responses

• 07 Aug
• 2023

Ilustrasi gambar (I-Stockphoto)

Many People Buy Blue Checks on Instagram, UM Surabaya Lecturers Give Responses

• Article
• By Uswah Sahal
• Education
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Recently the paid blue tick service on Instagram and Facebook or Meta Verified has officially arrived in Indonesia. Now users in Indonesia can subscribe to blue ticks with prices starting from IDR 100,000 to IDR 130,000 per month subject to certain conditions.

The phenomenon of many people buying blue ticks on Instagram has also received many responses from various groups, one of which is Radius Setiyawan, a lecturer in Visual Communication Design (DKV), who also gave his response.

"In the past, blue ticks could only be obtained by well-known users such as politicians, executives, influencers and organizations that signified user legitimacy, now blue ticks can belong to anyone, as long as they have the money to pay," said Radius Minggu (6/8/23) )

Radius, a lecturer in media and cultural studies, said that the presence of a blue tick would create a digital caste system for those who are able and less fortunate.

"In the digital era, like today, the opportunity to access information is open to all classes, if that's the case, the desire to be recognized is even greater," said Radius again.

According to him, in the context of recognition, being different and distinguishing oneself from others is very important. Today the digital world provides this opportunity. Buying a blue tick account today is part of wanting to be recognized. Want to distinguish yourself (distinction) with others. Media that was previously imagined to be free and active space for all groups or strata has started to fade.

Apart from that, Radius added that the conditions above are common in the digital era. The era in which a person is included in the category of homo digitalis creatures.

“The existence of humans today is very dependent on symbols attached to self-image. His existence really depends on how actively he exhibits himself in the digital world," concluded Radius