Digital Culture and Youth Development: Assessing the Influence of TikTok on Adolescents in Makassar.
Abstract
The growing presence of digital media has transformed how adolescents interact, construct values, and engage with their social environment. TikTok, as one of the most popular platforms among Indonesian youth, plays a central role in shaping contemporary digital culture. This study examines how TikTok influences adolescents’ social interactions, moral values, and awareness of social issues in Maccini Parang, Makassar. Using a quantitative descriptive approach, data were collected through a structured questionnaire distributed to adolescent respondents who actively use TikTok. The instrument measured perceptions related to patterns of social interaction, moral considerations, and behavioral responses to content encountered on the platform. Descriptive statistical analysis was employed to identify dominant tendencies and variations in responses. The findings indicate that most adolescents engage intensively with TikTok and are frequently exposed to content they perceive as distracting or inappropriate, such as non-educational material, sensational trends, and morally questionable behavior. Despite this exposure, the results also show that many adolescents demonstrate a degree of critical awareness and self-regulation by selectively filtering content they consider negative or irrelevant. While some respondents acknowledged that TikTok influences their real-life decisions and moral perspectives, others maintained that their values remain largely shaped by family, school, and community norms. These findings suggest that TikTok’s influence on youth development is neither uniform nor deterministic but mediated by adolescents’ agency and local socio-cultural contexts. This study contributes to discussions on digital culture and youth development by offering localized empirical insights into how adolescents negotiate digital influences within everyday social life.
Downloads
References
Amalia, D., Rahman, F., & Yusuf, M. (2023). Character education and digital responsibility among secondary school students. Cakrawala Pendidikan, 42(3), 623–635. https://journal.uny.ac.id
Aurelia, M. (2023). TikTok and adolescent social interaction in urban communities. Jurnal Komunikasi Indonesia, 8(2), 98–109. https://journal.ui.ac.id
Fatmawati, N., Hidayat, R., & Lestari, S. (2023). Digital media consumption and value orientation in youth development. Jurnal Ilmu Sosial dan Humaniora, 12(2), 210–221. https://journal.unesa.ac.id
Fitriani, R., Suryani, L., & Prasetyo, A. (2024). Social media exposure and moral judgment among Indonesian adolescents. Jurnal Pendidikan Karakter, 14(1), 45–56. https://journal.uny.ac.id
Galanis, P., Katsiroumpa, A., Vraka, I., Siskou, O., Frousiouni, C., & Kaitelidou, D. (2024). Problematic TikTok use severity, self-control, and school engagement: A one-year longitudinal study. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2024-1-4
Gusri, P. Y. R., & Dwatra, F. D. (2024). The influence of intensity of TikTok use on consumer behavior among early-adult Hallyu fans. Trend: International Journal of Trends in Global Psychological Science and Education, 1(4), 57–62. https://jurnal.causalita.com
Jumiyati. (2022). Scrolling minds: TikTok’s impact on critical thinking in the digital age. Journal of Society Innovation and Development, 4(1), 735–745. https://journal.institutre.org
Maulida, I., Nasihin, M., Silma, N., & Yudistira, C. G. P. (2025). The influence of TikTok on children’s growth, behaviour, digital well-being, social interactions, and cognitive development. Kajian Pendidikan, Seni, Budaya, Sosial dan Lingkungan, 2(1), 32–41. https://ojs.ympn2.or.id
Montag, C., Yang, H., & Elhai, J. D. (2021). On the psychology of TikTok use: A first glimpse from empirical findings. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies, 3(1), 7–14. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbe2.273
Omar, B., & Dequan, W. (2022). Watch, share or create: The influence of personality traits and user motivation on TikTok usage. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 7, 100214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2022.100214
Vanden Abeele, M. (2023). Digital well-being as a dynamic construct. New Media & Society, 25(1), 35–59. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448211063131
Wang, Y., Gu, T., & Wang, S. (2023). Causes and characteristics of short video platform addiction. Frontiers in Psychology, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1118456
Copyright (c) 2026 Risma Asriani Azis Genisa, Masdianti Masdianti, Titin Suhartini, Syamsuddin Syamsuddin, Muhammad Resky A. Gau
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
By submitting the article/manuscript of the article, the author(s) agree with this policy. No specific document sign-off is required.
License
The use of the article will be governed by the Creative Commons Attribution license as currently displayed on Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Author(s)' Warranties
The author warrants that the article is original, written by the stated author(s), has not been published before, contains no unlawful statements, does not infringe the rights of others, is subject to copyright that is vested exclusively in the author and free of any third party rights, and that any necessary written permissions to quote from other sources have been obtained by the author(s).
User/Public Rights
Under the Creative Commons license, users are allowed to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work. Users will also need to attribute authors on distributing works in the journal and other media of publications. Unless otherwise stated, the authors are public entities as soon as their articles got published.
Rights of Authors
Authors retain all their rights to the published works, such as (but not limited to) the following rights;
- Copyright and other proprietary rights relating to the article, such as patent rights,
- The right to use the substance of the article in own future works, including lectures and books,
- The right to reproduce the article for own purposes,
- The right to self-archive the article,
- The right to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the article's published version (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
Co-Authorship
If the article was jointly prepared by more than one author, any authors submitting the manuscript warrants that he/she has been authorized by all co-authors to be agreed on this copyright and license notice (agreement) on their behalf, and agrees to inform his/her co-authors of the terms of this policy. The journal will not be held liable for anything that may arise due to the author(s) internal dispute. The journal will only communicate with the corresponding author.
Royalties
Being an open accessed journal and disseminating articles for free under the Creative Commons license term mentioned, author(s) aware that the journal entitles the author(s) to no royalties or other fees.
Miscellaneous
The article will be published in the journal if the article’s editorial process is successfully completed. The editors may modify the article to a style of punctuation, spelling, capitalization, referencing, and usage that deems appropriate. The author acknowledges that the article may be published so that it will be publicly accessible and such access will be free of charge for the readers.
