ANALISIS SUMBER INFORMASI PESERTA PADA EVENT NTT STARTUP CHALLENGE 2025 : STUDI LAPANGAN PADA PESERTA FINAL DAY NTT STARTUP CHALLENGE 2025

This research was motivated by the increasing role of social media in disseminating information about international events in the digital era, particularly within the Business-to-Business (B2B) context involving professional audiences such as startup founders, investors, and industry executives. The objectives of this study were to identify the information sources most frequently used by participants to learn about the NTT Startup Challenge 2025 and to analyze the dominant media channels in the information dissemination process based on Denis McQuail’s media information function perspective. This study employed a quantitative descriptive approach. The population consisted of 350 participants who attended the Final Day of NTT Startup Challenge 2025, with a sample of 106 respondents selected using a non-probability sampling technique through purposive sampling. Data were collected through structured questionnaires and social media report documentation, then analyzed using descriptive percentage analysis supported by data triangulation to enhance the validity of the findings. The results revealed that social media was the most dominant source of information, accounting for 43.40% of responses, followed by relationships and communities (20.75%), email (13.21%), other sources (12.26%), and websites (10.38%). In addition, secondary data indicated that the event’s digital communication activities generated more than 1.3 million views across Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, reinforcing the finding that social media possesses a very broad reach in information dissemination. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that social media was the most dominant communication channel used by participants to obtain information about the NTT Startup Challenge 2025, while other channels such as email, websites, and professional networks continued to serve supporting roles within the event communication ecosystem. These findings confirm that McQuail’s media information function remains relevant; however, it has undergone a significant shift toward the dominance of interactive digital platforms.