Moderate Resistance in the Age of Algorithm: How Indonesian SME Influencers Negotiate Digital Structural Violence on Social Media

Aditya Nirwana, Budi Eko Soetjipto, Agung Winarno, Agus Hermawan, Wawan Eko Yulianto

Abstract


This study investigates the resistance practices of local Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise (SME) influencers in Indonesia who navigate structural violence embedded within social media, driven by developmentalist digital transformation policies. Using a qualitative phenomenological approach and drawing on Bourdieu’s theory of habitus and Foucault’s concept of power, the research uncovers how these influencers’ worldviews and ethical commitments diverge from the dominant norms of digital platforms. Through in-depth interviews and participatory observations with seven informants in Malang, Indonesia, data were analyzed using the van Kaam method. The findings reveal that SME influencers embrace values such as “inclusive sustainability” and “reflective humanism,” which contrast with the prevailing social media logic marked by digital exhibitionism and performative validation. Instead of abandoning these platforms, they enact “moderate resistance,” a nuanced negotiation of platform constraints through strategies of authenticity, humor, and inclusivity. This resistance allows them to maintain relative autonomy while still engaging with algorithmic systems. The study introduces moderate resistance as a novel conceptual bridge linking Bourdieu’s structuralist insights with Foucault’s analysis of power, offering a critique of overly celebratory discourses around SME digitalization. It also challenges the predominance of positivist approaches in SME research by presenting an alternative, critical framework rooted in emancipation and reflexivity. Limitations of the study include its localized focus and the epistemological tension between phenomenology and structuralist theory. Future research should examine how moderate resistance manifests in other Global South contexts with similar digital policy frameworks.

 

Keywords: Moderate resistance, SME, social media, digitalization, structural violence.

 

https://doi.org/10.17576/JKMJC-2026-4203-02


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