The Role of Instagram in Raising the Awareness to End Violence
against Women in Academia
Intan Primadini
Department of Communication Science, Universitas Multimedia Nusantara, Tangerang, Indonesia
Keywords: Academia, Instagram, Social Media, Violence against Women, Women.
Abstract: The social media influence has grown well beyond the personal circle of the users to a powerful social
movement tool in society. It has been used to advocate for various social issues, including violence against
women. The rise of sexual harassment cases in Indonesian academia drives some non-government
organisations and feminist groups to bring about campaigns to raise public awareness to fight violence on
women. Instagram, as one of the most popular social media platforms today, is widely used to disseminate
information about violence against women in academia. This study aimed to find out the role of Instagram in
raising awareness to end violence against women in Indonesian academic sector. In this cross-sectional
survey, 100 followers of @lawanpatriarki account (an Instagram account dedicated to campaign ending of
violence against women) completed the questionnaire about their perception of contents and awareness. The
results showed that video content had an enormous influence on awareness, while the image content had the
smallest influence.
1 INTRODUCTION
The rise of sexual harassment cases in the educational
sector has made the public aware that academia is not
immune to acts of violence against women. Until
now, in Indonesia, there is no comprehensive data on
sexual crime occurring in academic settings.
However, fractions of data do exist. Rifka Annisa, a
crisis centre and non-profit institution that focuses on
eliminating violence against women based in
Yogyakarta, in only one month received eleven e-
mails reporting the incidence of sexual abuse in
campus; the lecturers committed seven of them on
students (Utami, 2019). The many cases of abuse
experienced by women in the education sector and
victim-blaming culture in Indonesia have made many
organisations concerning women's equality begin the
campaign movement on violence against women
issue. One campaign movement is carried out using
hashtags: #MeToo, #KitaAgni, #MulaiBicara, etc.
The objective of the campaign was to raise awareness
about the cases of abuse experienced by women, the
culture of victim-blaming experienced by the
majority of victims, as well as to invite people to join
the campaign against women-directed violence.
Campaign messages are no longer only delivered
through mainstream media, but also through social
media. Most campaigns instead focus on using social
media in the dissemination of their messages. Liou
(2013) mentioned that around the globe, social media
tools had helped fuel social movements. Social media
has been shown to strengthen the social actors' ability
to challenge and change power relations in society, to
provide platforms for debate, reflection, influencing
and mobilising people (Liou, 2013). In recent years,
social media has also become a medium to mobilise
people for a cause. A growing number of social
awareness campaigns run by the Non-Governmental
Organisations (NGO) and brands as part of their
social corporate responsibility programs leverage
social media to spread the word (Singh, 2016).
One of the most used social Media is Instagram.
Compared to other social media, Instagram is the first
social network specifically created for use on mobile
devices/ smartphones. Instagram was designed to do
one thing very elegantly—share photos. That
simplicity of focus has real power (Miles, 2014). The
picture/ photo can be equipped with a description or
caption, and added with a hashtag (#). According to
Miles (2014), hashtags allow you to expand the reach
of your image far beyond your own list of followers,
so that anyone interested in that topic can see your
458
Primadini, I.
The Role of Instagram in Raising the Awareness to End Violence against Women in Academia.
DOI: 10.5220/0010686900002967
In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference of Vocational Higher Education (ICVHE 2019) - Empowering Human Capital Towards Sustainable 4.0 Industry, pages 458-464
ISBN: 978-989-758-530-2; ISSN: 2184-9870
Copyright
c
 2021 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved

image by simply searching for that hashtag (Miles,
2014).
An Instagram account named "@lawanpatriarki"
has been campaigning to end violence against women
using the hashtags of #RaiseUp, #MeToo,
#HearMeToo, and #BravetoSpeakUp. This account
does use not only photos/ image but also captions,
illustrations, Instagram stories and hashtags to deliver
their campaign messages. Until this research was
done, @lawanpatriarki had 31.800 followers. This
study focused on examining the role of
@lawanpatriarki Instagram account in the campaign
of ending violence against women.
Sometimes, people do not seem to care about
cases of violence against women because of their
ignorance about the issue. There are still many people
who think that various forms of abuse are mere jokes.
A campaign is needed to inform or educate the public
about this. Campaign messages delivered through
photos/ images, videos, InstaStory, Caption and
Hashtag in the @lawanpatriarki account, are created
to educate and make people aware of this issue.
2 THEORETICAL
FRAMEWORKS
2.1 Social Media
Social Media is a form of media which describes a
wide range of new sources of online information that
are created, initiated, circulated and used by
consumers' intent on educating each other about
products, brands, services, personalities, and issues. It
also refers to the means of interactions among people
in which they create, share, and exchange information
and ideas in virtual communities and networks
(Paredes and Rojic, 2013).
Brian Solis suggested seven Cs as the keys to
communicating messages (Solis, 2010). These Cs are:
1. Clear: Clarity is essential to make an
effective message;
2. Concise: Keeping the message concise
enhance clarity;
3. Concrete: In business writing, people tend to
accept the actual words than the abstract or
vague words.
4. Correct: Attention should be made to the
correctness in spelling, grammar,
punctuation, and format.
5. Coherent: Coherent and seamlessly flowing
messages allow the readers to digest them
more easily.
6. Complete: Information must be complete to
ensure that more questions are answered
than raised.
7. Courteous: Having thoughtful messages is
critical to reach out sincerely to the readers.
This research focused on two elements: coherent
and complete, as they were the most relevant with the
purpose of this research. The social media discussed
explicitly in this research is Instagram.
2.1.1 Instagram
According to Jenn Herman in his book entitled "The
Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Instagram," Instagram
is a photo and video sharing social media site. It was
designed for mobile use with the intention that users
would take photos on their mobile devices then
upload the images "instantly" through the Instagram
app (Herman, 2014).
Gong (2014) stated that Instagram can be defined
as a social networking service specialising on photos
(and videos) sharing on mobile. It is, on the one hand,
an online mobile photo (and videos) capturing
platform that is in the application form which allows
users to take, manipulate, and upload photos (and
videos). On the other hand, it is a networking service
that enables users to share content and interact with
each other by liking, commenting on other's posts
(Gong, 2014).
2.1.2 The Instagram Elements
As mentioned earlier, Instagram focuses on images
(photos) and videos. In addition, we can also add
metadata to the videos or photos that we upload.
Metadata is information that accompanies your image
but is not actually visible on the image. Miles (2014)
stated that metadata help your followers learn more
about the image. Included in metadata are the
following:
1. Caption: Your description of the image is a
vital part of communicating more details
about the image
2. Location: By having your Photo Map
enabled, you can easily allow followers to
see where your pictures were taken.
Additionally, you can name locations to
add even more detail.
3. Hashtag: A hashtag is a categorization
system originally pioneered on Twitter. It is
simply a word proceeded by the # sign. This
allows the image to be included in the
category of images that have the #sunset
hashtag.
The Role of Instagram in Raising the Awareness to End Violence against Women in Academia
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On August 2016, Instagram launched Instagram
stories. In stories, content is available for only 24
hours from the time of posting. Stories allow the
addition of text, drawings and emoticons to images or
video clips (whatis.techtarget.com). Companies (or in
this research, NGOs) can use the feature to promote
their products or services in depth while maintaining
a clean Instagram page.
2.1.3 The Use of Instagram (Media
Exposure)
Media exposure is the use of media consisting of the
amount of time used in various media, types of media
content, Media consumed or the Media as a whole.
From this understanding, it can be concluded that
media exposure can be seen from the intensity of
one's time when using certain media.
Horrigan (2002) in Rahmayani (2017) stated that
there are two fundamental things that must be
observed to know the intensity of the use of Media
social:
 Frequencies: how often a person accesses
social media
1. Very low : < 2 times/ day
2. Low : 2 times/ day
3. Moderate : 3 times/ day
4. High : > 3 times/ day
 Duration: how long the person accesses
social media
1. Very low : < 1 hour/ day
2. Low : 1-3 hour/ day
3. Moderate : 4-6 hour/ day
4. High : > 6 hour/ day
2.2 Social Media and Its Role in
Raising the Awareness of Ending
Violence against Women
Awareness as a noun, refers to knowledge that
something exists; understanding of a subject, issue or
situation or the state or condition of being aware,
conscious about something. In marketing, awareness
refers for a measure of how well known a brand, firm
or product is (Sjoberg, 2017). But this is a research
about awareness in social movement or campaign.
Awareness campaigns are a veritable hallmark of the
social impact of the non-profit sector and the way it
seeks to influence good in the world. If a non-profit's
mission depends on changing hearts and minds, then
there is no more important effort than measuring and
quantifying awareness (Weiner, 2019). Sjoberg
(2017) also stated that based on several studies, use
of social Media does positively affect brand
awareness (or in this case, awareness campaign).
2.2.1 Dimension of Awareness
Researchers have identified different levels of brand
awareness. According to Keller's (1993 p. 7 in
Sjoberg, 2017) Dimensions of Brand Knowledge,
brand awareness consists of two different
dimensions: brand recognition and brand recall
performance. Aaker (1991 p. 610-62 in Sjoberg,
2017), on the other hand, represents three levels of
brand awareness in his Brand Awareness Pyramid. As
an addition to brand recognition and brand recall
levels, the highest level of awareness is called top-of-
mind awareness.
2.2.2 Brand Recognition
Brand recognition, refers to consumers' ability to
confirm prior encounter with a certain brand when
given the brand as a cue. It means that a consumer can
identify, in different circumstances, that a brand has
been seen or heard previously, by recognising
itsword, visual symbols or an image. Brand
recognition may also include identification of
additional brand elements or consumers may be able
to recognise a brand when they encounter it e.g. at the
point-of-sale. However, brand recognition does not
necessarily involve remembering the brand name,
where the brand was encountered, how it is different
from other brands or even to which product category
the brand belongs to (Keller 1993 p. 3; Keller 2008 p.
374-375; Aaker 1996 p. 10 in Sjoberg, 2017).
Brand recognition is understood as the minimal
level of awareness and can be measured using an
aided recall test, a marketing research technique that
is used to determine how well a brand or e.g. its
advertisement is remembered by a test audience when
they are given suggestions or cues about it
(WebFinance Inc. 2017d in Sjoberg, 2017).
2.2.3 Brand Recall
Keller (1993 in Sjoberg, 2017) stated that brand
recall, also known as unaided recall or spontaneous
recall, refers to consumers' ability to retrieve a certain
brand based on a product category, the needs that the
category fulfills, or some other type of probe as a cue.
In brand recall, a consumer can correctly generate a
brand from memory.
Consumers store in memory a variety of
information, feelings and past experiences, that can
be recalled when decisions are being made (Sjoberg,
2017). For instance, Keller (2008) said, a slogan or
ICVHE 2019 - The International Conference of Vocational Higher Education (ICVHE) “Empowering Human Capital Towards Sustainable
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jingle can creatively pair a brand and appropriate
cues, and other brand elements such as logos,
symbols, and packaging aid recall.
According to Aaker (1991), to create brand recall,
either an in-depth learning experience or many
repetitions are required. Furthermore, the brand name
must be more salient and the linkage between the
brand and its product category must be stronger.
While recognition may persist even after a few
exposures, recall decays with time.
Brand recall can be measured with an unaided
recall test, a marketing research technique, that is
used to test e.g. the effectiveness of advertisements or
the familiarity of a brand. In unaided recall
respondents are given no cues (or the minimum
number of cues needed to conduct a research) to test
their level of recall (Sjoberg, 2017).
3 METHODOLOGY
3.1 Design
A cross-sectional survey was conducted to measure
the link of different contents on @lawanpatriarki
Instagram account with the people awareness
regarding violence against women. Neuman (2014)
defined survey research as a quantitative research in
which the researcher systematically asks a large
number of people the same questions and then records
their answers.
3.2 Population and Sample
Population is the abstract idea of a large group of
many cases from which a researcher draws a sample
and to which results from a sample are generalised
(Neuman, 2014). The population of this study was the
followers of "@lawanpatriarki" account on
Instagram, amounted to 31,800 followers when this
research was conducted. The sample size was 100
participants, which was calculated by using Yamane
formula, and having the acceptable sampling error of
0.1.
3.3 Data Collection
We sent direct messages on the @lawanpatriarki
followers to invite them to participate in our survey.
Of 250 direct messages sent, we received 100
responses and fulfilled our sampling size. The
participants filled out our online questionnaire
through the link in our direct message.
We developed a 30-item questionnaire from the
literature review. The questionnaire assessed the
user's perception of the coherence, completeness, and
uniqueness of the different media, i.e. picture, video,
Instastory, caption, and hashtag, featured by
@lawanpatriarki Instagram account. It also evaluated
the users' awareness on the issue of violence against
women. We used four-point Likert scale to calculate
the summation of the user's acceptance of contents
and awareness on ending violence against women,
which has been campaigned by the @lawanpatriarki.
The questionnaire was piloted prior to the study and
demonstrated a good validity and reliability
(Cronbach's alpha = 0.788-0.927).
3.4 Data Analysis
Data were analysed using univariate analysis to
describe the participants' characteristics and user's
reception on the Instagram contents (picture, video,
instastory, caption, and hashtag) and their awareness
of the campaign. We then analysed both variables
(content and awareness) using correlation analysis.
Correlation analysis is a method used to test the
relationship between the variables used in a research
(Ghozali, 2013). The purpose of the correlation
analysis is to measure the strength of linear
correlation between variables (Kriyantono, 2016).
3.5 Analysis Model
The Instagram content and awareness of the
campaign were the variables of this research. Figure
1 illustrates the analysis model of this study.
Figure 1: Analysis Model.
4 RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Most respondents were female (77%), aged 17-25
years (90%), and had finished high school (75%).
Seventy-nine per cent of the respondents accessed
Instagram more than three times/day; only 5% of
them accessed Instagram less than two times per day.
The majority (58%) spent time on Instagram for 1-3
The Role of Instagram in Raising the Awareness to End Violence against Women in Academia
461

hours/day (figure 2). From the data on frequency and
duration in accessing Instagram, it is known that most
respondents access Instagram quite frequently but in
a short duration.
Figure 2: Frequency and duration of daily access to
Instagram.
This survey found that the overall perception of
the Instagram contents was good. This can be seen
from the mean values of all the variables which are
above 3 (Table 1). Respondents agreed that the video
contents are 'relevant' (mean = 3.39), yet they rated
the lowest that the contents are 'unique'. On the
awareness variable, the highest rating was given by
the respondents on the statement of "Instastory are
easy to be recalled" compared to the statement of
"Captions are easy to be recalled". It means that the
use of Instastory in delivering campaign messages is
better accepted than other contents.
Table 1: Perception of the @lawanpatriarki's Instagram
contents and awareness on the ending violence against
women campaign.
Furthermore, correlation and regression analyses
were performed to see the correlation and influence
between the Instagram contents and awareness. As
presented in table 2, all contents were significantly
related with the awareness about violence against
women (all p <0.000). The video content was found
to have the highest correlation with the awareness
with Beta values of 0.761. While the lowest
correlation and influence was of image content with
Beta values of 0.677.
Table 2: The relationships between the Instagram contents
and awareness of the campaign.
*Variable Y: Awareness
The finding that the video contents has the
strongest link to awareness is supported by previous
study finding such as that of Canning [18]. Canning
mentioned that videos hold our attention five times
longer than still images. People tend to have shorter
attention span while thumbing through social media.
In addition, Wu in Canning (2018) argued that adding
video campaign into the Instagram stories is a way to
overcome the attention deficit of the people. Wu also
emphasised on the importance of the first three
second of the Instagram stories to be catchy and
memorable (Canning, 2018).
Instastory was also especially perceived by the
respondents as easy to be recognised (table 2). This
finding is relevant to the Hughes' notion that in
today's digital era, the audiences place their trust in
the brands they can have a conversation with [19].
Instastory can create the sense of engagement and
proximity between the account holders and the
followers. Instagram stories have been recommended
as the instant booster of brand awareness in the social
media (DMI, 2017).
Overall, Instagram content was found to have a
correlation with the awareness with Beta value 0.861
(table 2). In line with the present study result,
Abdelmoety and Gounaris (2014 in Sjoberg, 2017)
stated that the use of social Media is positively related
to brand awareness (Abdelmoety and Gounaris,
2014).
The following figure (figure 3) is the model with
Beta and p values:
Variable s
Highest
Indicators
Me an Mode
Lowe st
Indicators
Me an Mode
Image (X1)
Informative,
Attractive,
Relevant
3.41 3 Unique 3,28 3
Video (X2)
Relevant 3.39 3 Unique 3,13 3
InstaS tory
(X3)
Relevant 3.38 3 Unique 3,15 3
Caption
(X4)
Informative 3.32 3
Attractive,
Relevant
3,26 3
Hashtag
(X5)
Relevant 3.22 3 Unique 3,13 3
Awareness
(Y)
InstaStories
are easy to
be
recognized
3.32 3
Captions are
easy to be
recalled
3,2 3
Variabl es
(X)
Beta (ß)
R-
square
p val ue
Image
0.677 0.459 0.000
Video
0.761 0.579 0.000
InstaS tory
0.727 0.528 0.000
Caption
0.725 0.525 0.000
Hashtag
0.754 0.569 0.000
Instagram
Content
0.861 0.741 0.000
ICVHE 2019 - The International Conference of Vocational Higher Education (ICVHE) “Empowering Human Capital Towards Sustainable
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Figure 3: Bivariate Analysis with Beta and Significance
Number.
5 CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATION
From the results of the study it is known that
@lawanpatriarki Instagram content that was mostly
perceived to be of relevance with the campaign was
the video content. For all Instagram contents,
respondents considered that Photos, Videos,
Instastory, Captions and Hashtags were informative
and relevant to the issue of violence against women.
However, respondents also assumed that all posts on
@lawanpatriarki accounts were not unique,
especially for Caption variables, respondents
considered their contents to be less interesting and
relevant. In line with these results, on awareness
variable, respondents also considered that the
captions written on @lawanpatriarki account was
difficult to be recalled. Yet, campaign messages
through Instastory were perceived to be helpful to
recognise the campaign that are being delivered.
Video content was found to have the greatest
influence on awareness, while the image content had
the smallest influence.
Suggestions that can be given to Instagram
accounts that focus on a campaign of violence against
women are:
1. The @lawanpatriarki account must pay more
attention to the "unique" factor of each post,
whether in the form of Images, Videos,
InstaStory, Caption, or Hashtags.
2. The use of Instastory was well-received and
hence needs to be maintained regularly.
While the Captions of the posts should be
more catchy and relevant to increase the
impacts on the viewers.
3. In addition to "Instastory," Videos was
identified to be the most influential on rising
the awareness of respondents so more efforts
should be made to make videos for
campaign. On the other hand, image
contents need to be made more attractive to
nail the viewers' awareness.
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