EMOTIONAL DOMINANCE AND DISCURSIVE FRAGILITY IN INDONESIA'S DIGITAL SOCIAL MOVEMENT

This study examines how emotional dominance contributes to discursive fragility in digitally mediated social movements. The study specifically analyzes how discourse is constructed, circulated, and reproduced across digital platforms. Grounded in Norman Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), it conceptualizes discursive fragility as a structural condition in which visibility is sustained primarily through affective amplification rather than argumentative consolidation. The Brave Pink Hero Green movement in Indonesia serves as a case study due to its rapid viral escalation and subsequent sharp decline, offering insight into the sustainability of algorithmically amplified activism. A qualitative research design grounded in Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) was employed, supported by digital trace data collected through the Intelligence Socio Analytic (ISA) system. The monitoring system recorded 15,655 exposure events related to the movement across X (Twitter), TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube between 1 and 30 September 2025, including 10,050 unique social media posts that were thematically analyzed across textual, discursive practice, and social practice dimensions. Rational indicators (policy articulation, 17+8 agenda references, regulatory citation) and emotional indicators (affective hashtags, symbolic visuals, moral framing, virality appeals) were systematically classified. Emotional content accounted for 76% of total exposure events (11,833 items), while rational articulation comprised 24% (3,822 items). Participation was dominated by redistribution, with retweets representing 82.28% of activity. Discursive authority clustered around emotionally expressive accounts, and exposure peaked on 5 September 2025 before declining sharply. Emotional amplification accelerated mobilization but narrowed deliberative depth, centralized authority, and weakened institutional anchoring. Emotional dominance generates rapid visibility yet produces discursive fragility, limiting the long-term sustainability of digital activism within algorithmically structured public spheres.