Year: 2026 | Month: July | Volume: 13 | Issue: 7 | Pages: 161-174
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijrr.20260720
Digital Public Opinion Dynamics and Policy Legitimacy: Social Media Discourse on the Free Nutritious Meal Program (MBG) in Indonesia
Mukhammad Sahlan1
1Faculty of Da’wah and Communication, Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Kalijaga, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
Corresponding Author: Mukhammad Sahlan
ABSTRACT
The Free Nutritious Meal Program (Program Makan Bergizi Gratis/MBG) has emerged as one of the strategic public policies aimed at improving children’s nutritional status and strengthening national human resource development. As a large-scale government program involving significant public funding and cross-sectoral implementation, MBG has attracted extensive public attention, particularly in digital media environments. Social media platforms have increasingly become spaces where citizens express opinions, debate policy effectiveness, and construct narratives regarding government initiatives. This study aims to examine the dynamics of digital public opinion related to the implementation of the MBG program and to analyze its implications for the construction of policy legitimacy. This research employs a quantitative approach through digital public opinion analysis based on social media data. A total of 2,500 public posts related to the MBG program were collected from Twitter (X) using keyword-based data extraction. Sentiment analysis and digital content analysis were conducted to identify patterns of public opinion and dominant themes emerging in online discussions. The findings indicate that digital conversations about the MBG program are predominantly characterized by critical sentiment, particularly regarding policy effectiveness, budget transparency, and implementation mechanisms. Nevertheless, supportive opinions emphasizing the potential benefits of the program in improving children's nutritional status are also present. The results further demonstrate that social media discussions contribute to shaping the public agenda surrounding the MBG program. However, the intensity of digital public opinion does not necessarily translate into immediate policy change, as policy decisions remain embedded within institutional and political structures. This study contributes to the growing literature on digital political communication by integrating digital agenda-setting theory, opinion polarization, and policy legitimacy within a unified analytical framework.
Keywords: Digital public opinion; social media communication; policy legitimacy; agenda setting; sentiment analysis .
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