Front Stage and Backstage on Instagram: A Phenomenological Study of Female Students' Self-Image Duality Through Second Accounts
Abstract
This study aims to analyze the duality of self-image of female students of the Faculty of Da'wah and Communication, Universitas Islam Negeri Ar-Raniry through the use of second accounts on Instagram. This self-image duality refers to the difference in the way participants present themselves in the main account and the second account. The main account is generally used to display an ideal, professional, and socially appropriate self-image, while the second account becomes a more personal, authentic, and free space from social pressure. The research uses a qualitative approach with phenomenological methods to explore the subjective experiences of participants. Data was collected through in-depth interviews and digital observations of content uploaded on both accounts. The research participants were selected purposively, namely active female students aged 18–25 years who have and use the main account and second account actively. Thematic analysis techniques are used to identify key patterns and themes in the data. The results of the study show that the use of the main account reflects the concept of the front stage, where participants display their ideal self-image and meet social expectations. In contrast, the second account represents the backstage, where participants feel more free to express themselves without pressure. In addition, second accounts are also used as a means of maintaining privacy, establishing closer relationships, and managing social pressure. The use of second accounts provides space for female students to navigate the duality of self-image, creating a balance between privacy and freedom of expression on social media.
References
Amelia, C. (2024). Dramaturgi dalam Media Sosial: Second Account Instagram sebagai Self-Disclosure pada Mahasiswa Muslimah . Jurnal Audiens, 5(4 SE-Articles), 591–606. https://doi.org/10.18196/jas.v5i4.486
Aminullah, M., & Ali, M. (2020). Konsep Pengembangan Diri dalam Menghadapi Perkembangan Teknologi Komunikasi Era 4.0. KOMUNIKE: Jurnal Komunikasi Penyiaran Islam, 12(1), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.20414/JURKOM.V12I1.2243
Amiruddin, A., Ramadani, S. A., Farahnisa, A., Sofa, N., & Hutauruk, W. I. P. (2024). Analisis Kebebasan Berekspresi dan Sosial Media. Jurnal Ilmu Komputer Dan Bisnis, 15(2a), 89–94. https://doi.org/10.47927/JIKB.V15I2A.850
Ananda, M., Suriansyah, A., & Rafianti, W. (2024). Pengaruh Media Sosial Terhadap Pembentukan Identitas Diri pada Generasi Z. MARAS: Jurnal Penelitian Multidisiplin, 2, 2279–2289. https://doi.org/10.60126/maras.v2i4.634
Anggraini, D. (2020). Efektivitas Media Sosial Instagram dalam Penyampaian Pesan Dakwah (Studi Pada Akun Instagram@ islamdakwahcom). UIN Raden Intan Lampung.
Boyd, D. (2014). It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens. https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300166439
Brahmasari, I. A., & Suprayetno, A. (2008). Pengaruh Motivasi Kerja, Kepemimpinan dan Budaya Organisasi Terhadap Kepuasan Kerja Karyawan serta Dampaknya pada Kinerja Perusahaan (Studi kasus pada PT. Pei Hai International Wiratama Indonesia). Jurnal Manajemen Dan Kewirausahaan, 10(2), 124–135. https://doi.org/10.9744/JMK.10.2.PP
Burns, R. (1993). Mineralogical Applications of Crystal Field Theory. Mineralogical Applications of Crystal Field Theory, by Roger G. Burns, Pp. 575. ISBN 0521430771. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, September 1993., 5. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511524899
Farid, M., Adib, M., Main, D., Rusmanto, J., & Dkk. (2018). Fenomenologi Dalam Penelitian Ilmu Sosial.
Goffman, E. (1956). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. University of Edinburgh, Social Sciences Research Centre. https://books.google.co.id/books?id=i1KLjgEACAAJ
Goffman, E. (2023). The presentation of self in everyday life. In Social theory re-wired (pp. 450–459). Routledge.
Halkis, M. (2017). Fenomenologi: Alternatif Pengembangan Ilmu. Al-Fikra : Jurnal Ilmiah Keislaman, 14(1), 35–55. https://doi.org/10.24014/AF.V14I1.3901
Hollenbaugh, E. (2021). Self-Presentation in Social Media: Review and Research Opportunities. Review of Communication Research, 9, 80–98. https://doi.org/10.12840/ISSN.2255-4165.027
Huang, X., & Vitak, J. (2022). “Finsta gets all my bad pictures”: Instagram Users’ Self-Presentation Across Finsta and Rinsta Accounts. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact., 6(CSCW1). https://doi.org/10.1145/3512916
Ishaq, R. el, & Mahanani, P. A. R. (2018). Social Media, Public Space, and Culture “Pop.” ETTISAL Journal of Communication. https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:158610968
Kahija, Y. F. L. (2018). Penelitian Fenomenologis: Jalan Memahami Pengalaman Hidup. PT Kanisius. https://books.google.co.id/books?id=Sy_oEAAAQBAJ
Kang, J., & Wei, L. (2020). Let me be at my funniest: Instagram users’ motivations for using Finsta (a.k.a., fake Instagram). The Social Science Journal, 57(1), 58–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soscij.2018.12.005
Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59–68. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2009.09.003
Krämer, N., & Winter, S. (2008). Impression Management 2.0. Journal of Media Psychology, 20, 106–116. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-1105.20.3.106
Margana, I., Aliyudin, M., & Wahyudin, A. (2025). Strategi Kreatif Content Creator Dalam Dakwah Di Media Sosial (Studi Etnografi Virtual Akun Instagram @alfatahar_). Tabligh: Jurnal Komunikasi Dan Penyiaran Islam, 10, 37–54. https://doi.org/10.15575/tabligh.v10i1.39034
Mun, I. B., & Kim, H. (2021). Influence of False Self-Presentation on Mental Health and Deleting Behavior on Instagram: The Mediating Role of Perceived Popularity. Frontiers in Psychology, Volume 12. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.660484
Myers, D. (2012). Social Psychology: 11th Edition. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. https://books.google.co.id/books?id=fcs1AAAAQBAJ
Nabiilah, F., & Jayanti, K. (2024). Analisis Kepercayaan Diri Mahasiswa AKMRTV Jakarta Melalui Second Account Pada Instagram. Mediakom : Jurnal Ilmu Komunikasi, 8, 63–77. https://doi.org/10.35760/mkm.2024.v8i1.11090
Nadkarni, A., & Hofmann, S. (2012). Why Do People Use Facebook? Personality and Individual Differences, 52, 243–249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.11.007
Novanra, F., Sary, M., & Romli, N. (2022). Analisis Tingkat Pengungkapan Diri dalam Second Account Instagram di Kalangan Mahasiswa Ilmu Komunikasi Universitas Negeri Jakarta. Jurnal Jurnalisa, 8. https://doi.org/10.24252/jurnalisa.v8i1.27721
Nurbani, & Andriansyah, L. (2020). Citra Diri Virtual Mahasiswa (Studi Kualitatif Citra Diri Virtual Mahasiswa Ilmu Komunikasi Fakultas Ilmu Sosial dan Politik Universitas Sumatera Utara di Media Sosial Instagram). Komunika, 16(1), 22–31. https://doi.org/10.32734/KOMUNIKA.V16I1.5369
Putri, L., Subair, M., & Marsuki, N. (2024). Strategi Pengguna Media Sosial Dalam Mengatasi Tantangan Privasi dan Keamanan Online di Era Digital. Concept: Journal of Social Humanities and Education, 3, 20–27. https://doi.org/10.55606/concept.v3i1.949
Putri, V., & Priyana, Y. (2023). Kebebasan Berekspresi dan Regulasi Konten Online: Tantangan Saat Ini dalam Mempertahankan Kebebasan Berpendapat di Indonesia. Jurnal Hukum Dan HAM Wara Sains, 2. https://doi.org/10.58812/jhhws.v2i09.673
Putro, F. H. A. (2017). Perilaku Penggunaan Media Sosial dan Identitas Diri (Studi Deskriptif Kualitatif Tentang Perilaku Penggunaan Media Sosial dan Identitas Diri di Kalangan Mahasiswa S1 Jurusan Komunikasi Universitas Slamet Riyadi Surakarta). Transformasi, 2(32), 76–167. https://ejurnal.unisri.ac.id/index.php/Transformasi/article/view/1805
Rahmawati, D., Aksana, M. D. A., & Mukaromah, S. (2023). Privasi dan Keamanan Data di Media Sosial: Dampak Negatif dan Strategi Pencegahan. Prosiding Seminar Nasional Teknologi Dan Sistem Informasi, 3(1), 571–580. https://doi.org/10.33005/SITASI.V3I1.354
Reinders, S., Butler, M., & Marriott, K. (2020). “Hey Model!” – Natural User Interactions and Agency in Accessible Interactive 3D Models. Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI ’20, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376145
Rorong, M. J. (2020). Fenomenologi. In Deepublish. Deepublish.
Salamor, Y., & Salamor, A. (2021). Etika Bermedia Sosial Bagi Generasi Muda Gereja. Community Development Journal : Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat, 2, 228–231. https://doi.org/10.31004/cdj.v2i2.1681
Satria, A., Ulina, N., Safira, P., & Pangestu, B. (2024). Perspektif Hukum Terhadap Keamanan Data: Tantangan dan Solusi di Era Teknologi Informasi. Warta Dharmawangsa, 18, 177–192. https://doi.org/10.46576/wdw.v18i1.4264
Somantri, B., & Larasati, G. C. (2020). Pengaruh Faktor Budaya, Sosial, Pribadi, Dan Psikologis Terhadap Consumer Behavior Dan Dampaknya Pada Purchasing Decision Produk Kosmetik Korea Mahasiswi Kota Sukabumi. Syntax Literate ; Jurnal Ilmiah Indonesia, 5(8), 497–506. https://doi.org/10.36418/SYNTAX-LITERATE.V5I8.1544
Suneki, S., & Haryono, H. (2012). Paradigma Teori Dramaturgi Terhadap Kehidupan Sosial. Civis : Jurnal Ilmiah Ilmu Sosial Dan Pendidikan, 2(2). https://doi.org/10.26877/CIVIS.V2I2.456
Susilo, A., & Ridaryanti, M. (2024). Pengelolaan Media Sosial dalam Penguatan Identitas Digital dan Citra Diri Remaja Kota Tangerang Selatan . Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat Bangsa, 2(3 SE-Articles), 565–571. https://doi.org/10.59837/jpmba.v2i3.860
Tobing, N. S., Hayati, R., & Sitorus, H. (2023). Platform Instagram sebagai Media Pembentuk Citra Diri Virtual pada Mahasiswa. Jurnal Ilmu Sosial Dan Ilmu Politik, 5(1), 47–53. https://doi.org/10.56552/JISIPOL.V5I1.112
Turkle, S. (1995). Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet. Simon & Schuster. https://books.google.co.id/books?id=qMjaAAAAMAAJ
Valkenburg, P. M., Meier, A., & Beyens, I. (2022). Social media use and its impact on adolescent mental health: An umbrella review of the evidence. Current Opinion in Psychology, 44, 58–68. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.08.017
Wattimena, G. H. J. A., Ramadhani, Y. D., & Marsetio, M. (2022). Second Account Instagram sebagai Ruang Ekspresi Generasi Milenial. Jurnal Pewarta Indonesia, 4(2 SE-Articles), 212–222. https://doi.org/10.25008/jpi.v4i2.119
Xiao, S., Metaxa, D., Park, J. S., Karahalios, K., & Salehi, N. (2020). Random, Messy, Funny, Raw: Finstas as Intimate Reconfigurations of Social Media. Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI ’20, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376424
Yuan, C. W., Chiu, H. C., & Wohn, D. Y. (2026). Managing multiple accounts for identity construction on Instagram: A privacy management framework. New Media and Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448261424891;WEBSITE:WEBSITE:SAGE;WGROUP:STRING:PUBLICATION
Copyright (c) 2026 Ade Irma, Fitri Meliya Sari, Hanifah Hanifah

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
DAWUH: Islamic Communication Journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Authors who publish in this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and acknowledge that the DAWUH: Islamic Communication Journal Natural Science is the first publisher, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
- Authors can enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) before and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges and earlier and greater citation of published work.










