MAKNA KOMENTAR AUDIENS PADA KONTEN BALAP LIAR DI PLATFORM INSTAGRAM (Analisis Semiotika Pada Akun @mazzeh.media)

Muhammad Alejandro Brawijaya. Student ID: 202210040311281. THE MEANING OF AUDIENCE COMMENTS ON ILLEGAL STREET RACING CONTENT ON THE INSTAGRAM PLATFORM (A Semiotic Analysis of the @mazzeh.media Instagram Account). Undergraduate Thesis, Communication Science Study Program, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang, 2026.

The development of social media has transformed the way people interact and express their views on various social phenomena, including illegal street racing. Through its comment feature, Instagram functions not only as a platform for sharing information but also as a public space where audiences can express opinions, construct meanings, and respond to circulating content. The Instagram account @mazzeh.media is one of the accounts that actively uploads illegal street racing content and generates diverse responses from its audience. This study aims to analyze the meaning of audience comments on illegal street racing content uploaded by the Instagram account @mazzeh.media.

This study employed an interpretive qualitative approach using Charles Sanders Peirce's semiotic analysis method. The research data were collected through documentation in the form of screenshots of posts and audience comments from the Instagram account @mazzeh.media. The data were selected purposively from posts with high levels of audience engagement. Data analysis was conducted using Peirce's triadic concept, consisting of sign, object, and interpretant.

The findings indicate that audience comments contain various forms of meaning, including humor, sarcasm, support, criticism, and discussions related to betting practices associated with illegal street racing. The use of regional languages and informal expressions in the comments reflects the social closeness among audience members. This study concludes that Instagram's comment section serves not only as a medium for interaction but also as a space where meanings are constructed and audience perspectives toward the phenomenon of illegal street racing are represented.