Parents' Perception of Verbal Violence in Lolly Memes on Social Media

Abstrak

Social media plays a significant role in shaping new trends. One of them is memes that become popular in online media. Memes often appear as entertainment messages in edited content, such as images, videos, text, or other forms. One that went viral was a parody of a feud between a mother who is an Indonesian celebrity and a child, known as the Lolly meme. The Lolly meme often contains harsh and inappropriate words, so it can potentially have a negative impact, especially on children vulnerable to being exposed to such content. This study aims to identify the perceptions of parents who have children of the alpha generation towards verbal violence in the memes circulating on social media. This study is a qualitative descriptive study. Data was collected using documentation, literature studies, and in-depth interviews with informants consisting of parents with children of the alpha generation. This study uses the theory of social construction of reality and the theory of technological determinism. The results of the study show that parents tend to worry about their children being exposed to verbal violence in the Lolly meme. Children or the alpha generation are very susceptible to messages that are currently popular on social media, such as TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube shorts. Children also need to be able to get an adequate understanding of the content. Therefore, the role of parents in providing clear explanations and knowledge regarding this phenomenon is very important to reduce the potential negative impacts that can be caused by verbal violence content on social media. Parents need to pay more attention in supervising and accompanying children when accessing social media, as well as providing appropriate education regarding safe and appropriate content for their age.