Social Media Celebrity and Abusive Language: An Empirical Investigation

Different characteristics of social media users give rise to different languages when they (netizens) write comments on social media, ranging from polite ones to harsh. The case of one of the Indonesian celebrities who reported her spouse to the police for domestic violence brought up various comments. Netizens immediately commented, some even using abusive language. This study aims to determine the categorization of abusive language levels in posts on official Instagram accounts of celebrities who have X and Y accounts by applying the positivism paradigm using content analysis research methods and quantitative approaches. The samples collected were all comments on both accounts up to Saturday, January 7th, 2023. The results showed that on account Y, 34% of comments did not contain abusive language, while on account X, it reached 42%.. The most abusive language on account Y was related to names involving animals, astral creatures/beings, and body parts, with a count of 23% each. Meanwhile, on account X, the most abusive language involved unpleasant and unethical conditions, with a count of 12% and 11%, respectively. Efforts to address this issue are needed to create a safer and more civilized online environment.