Social Studies Education Challenges: The Social Construction of Student Identity Crisis Amid Digital Simulacra in Yogyakarta

Abstract

Social media has become an important environment in which students encounter, reproduce, and negotiate social meanings and standards of recognition, complicating understandings of identity formation in social studies education. This study examines the social construction of student identity crisis, conceptualized as a broader condition of identity tension, in the context of digital simulacra through the dialectical processes of externalization, objectivation, and internalization. Students’ experiences of flexing (the conspicuous display of status, possessions, or lifestyle) provide the empirical focus, while the implications for social studies education are also considered. An interpretivist qualitative case study was conducted in four junior high schools in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, involving 27 participants: 19 students and eight social studies teachers. Data were generated through four classroom observations, eight student interview sessions (seven group interviews and one individual interview), and one teacher focus group discussion. The data were analyzed thematically through iterative open coding, category development, cross-source comparison, and theoretical mapping. The findings suggest that, across the four schools, student identity tension is constructed through three interconnected processes rather than resulting simply from social media use. Externalization involved digital socialization, immediate social reinforcement, and mimetic digital practices. Objectivation involved the repeated visibility of platform-mediated representations, the normalization of digital standards, and diminished critical questioning. Internalization involved social comparison, self-evaluation, and performative insecurity. Some students also questioned or resisted prevailing digital standards, suggesting a reflective counter-process rather than a universal fourth stage. Conceptually, this study brings Berger and Luckmann’s theory of social construction into dialogue with Baudrillard’s concept of simulacra to explain how digitally circulating representations acquire social legitimacy and personal significance. The findings underscore the relevance of reflective and critical engagement with students’ digital experiences in social studies education, although specific pedagogical approaches were not tested as interventions.