Framework development for public schools’ social media policy in West Java, Indonesia / Vidi Sukmayadi

This study's overall aim is to construct a policy framework for social media use in Indonesian public schools, particularly in West Java Province, Indonesia. With convergent media and social networking becoming an integral part of our daily lives, an updated regulatory force is needed to keep up with the current technological developments. A social media policy framework needs to be developed to cope with social media's growing popularity and the potential challenges surrounding its use, such as cyber safety, social media misconduct, and misuse. In fact, to the best of the researcher's knowledge, there is no clear established regulations or guidelines regarding social media engagements in the Indonesian education setting. Thus, this study focuses on studying the regulatory gaps and developing a policy framework for social media engagement that can be incorporated as a guideline for the schools' policymakers in West Java, Indonesia. Furthermore, and more importantly, to instill proper values to the school community when it comes to social media usage. Hence, the researcher conducted a qualitative approach with Constructivist Grounded Theory (CGT) as the research method to collect the data from school administrators in 11 Indonesian public schools. The researcher performed 14 interviews. Twelve interviews were conducted with the school administrators from the 11 schools, while the other two interviews were completed with expert informants from the Indonesian Ministry of Education. The coded and analyzed data were used to fulfil the study objectives. The study's findings identify impromptu, reactive, one-sided, and overly strict policing as the primary regulatory gaps in the schools' existing regulatory force. Subsequently, this study provides a proposed policy framework containing foundational principles, core domains, and procedures specifically designed to support schools' policy-making in coping with social media use issues. The framework can be used as a reference point for analysis and guidance in the process of developing and implementing social media policies in Indonesian public schools. A solid policy outlining fundamental recommendations for school administrators about the usage of social media in schools could motivate the school members’ sense of security and responsibility when using social media. Finally, the findings of this study provide essential aspects in the development of social media policy. Particularly in guiding school administrators in implementing and regulating social media policy for the school communities