Riffa Rifqiyah. D0218070. 2022. “Reception of Netizen Comments on Hoax Issues by Instagram Influencer Shandy Purnamasari (Qualitative Descriptive Analysis Study of @shandypurnamasari Account Comments with Paris Fashion Week Issues Period 24 February 2022 – 07 March 2022)”. Undergradute Thesis. Communication Studies Program. Faculty of Social and Political Sciences. Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta. Instagram influencer, Shandy Purnamasari who has 2.7 million followers, stumbled upon a case of spreading hoaxes with her beauty brand Ms Glow. It was stated that Shandy and Ms Glow would appear at the international Paris Fashion Week event. This phenomenon made netizens to split into different perspective with various responses on Shandy Purnamasari's Instagram comment column. This study aims to determine audience reception related to hoax issues by influencer Shandy Purnamasari based on Audience Reception Theory, Stuart Hall. Audience Reception Theory by Stuart Hall divides the position of audience's meaning into three categories : (1) hegemonic dominant, (2) negotiated meaning, (3) oppositional decoding. This theory helps specifically to see the most dominant position of meaning in the audience among those categories. This type of research is descriptive qualitative. The object of this research is public comments on Shandy Purnamasari's account. Comments were selected using a purposive sampling technique or a sampling technique based on the researcher wanted to achieve. The data were collected using documentation techniques and literature study. The validity of the data in this study used data triangulation. The results showed that most of the audience was dominated by the meaning of oppositional decoding as many as 22 comments out of a total of 50 comments or 44%. The opposition's position was addressed with a response of ridicule, cursing, and accusations of committing public lies. Oppositional decoding occurs when the audience rejects the content of the message because there were differences in receptive messages that were not in accordance with their knowledge, background, and personal experience. Furthermore, the position of meaning is followed by negotiated meaning by 22%, unclear category by 18%, and hegemonic dominant by 16%.

Keywords: Reception, Influencer, Hoax, Netizen, Instagram.