Construction of Digital Communication Messages in Ferry Irwandi’s Youtube Content Through John Fiske’s Semiotic Approach in the Formulation of Communication Strategies

Abstract

The rapid development of digital communication and the increasing use of YouTube in Indonesia have transformed the ways individuals produce, distribute, and interpret messages. YouTube is no longer merely an entertainment platform but also serves as a space for education, public discussion, and opinion formation. This study aimed to analyze the construction of digital communication messages in Ferry Irwandi’s YouTube content using John Fiske’s semiotic approach. A qualitative method with semiotic analysis was employed to examine the verbal, visual, and ideological signs contained in the selected content. The analysis was based on John Fiske’s three levels of semiotics: reality, representation, and ideology. The findings showed that Ferry Irwandi constructed his digital communication messages through a casual appearance, relaxed gestures, rational language, a transparent live-streaming format, bright visual presentation, and the use of visual evidence. At the ideological level, the content promoted rationalism, empiricism, critical thinking, and education as means of challenging mystical claims and irrational beliefs. The study also found that the construction of messages in Ferry Irwandi’s content could serve as a basis for formulating digital communication strategies, particularly through credibility, transparency, humor, evidence-based argumentation, and audience engagement. Therefore, Ferry Irwandi’s YouTube content could be understood not only as digital entertainment but also as a form of public communication that educates, critiques, and encourages audiences to think critically.