Digital Moral Philosophy of Leadership Simplicity: A Netnographic Study of Public Perception
Filsafat Moral Digital tentang Kesederhanaan Kepemimpinan: Studi Netnografi atas Persepsi Publik
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36982/jpp.v11i2.7045Keywords:
Leadership Simplicity, Digital Netnography, Moral Philosophy, Public Perception, Social MediaAbstract
Purpose: This study aims to analyze the philosophical construction of leadership simplicity in the digital space through ontological, epistemological, and axiological perspectives.
Design/methodology/approach: This study employs a qualitative, netnographic design. Data were collected from 518 public comments on Instagram posts from the @arsip.peristiwa account featuring figures of simple leadership, along with interaction data in the form of likes and shares. Purposive sampling was used to ensure data relevance. Analysis was conducted through thematic analysis combined with philosophical interpretation. Data validity was maintained through triangulation, audit trails, and critical reflection.
Findings: Leadership simplicity is constructed in a multidimensional manner. Ontologically, simplicity is understood as the authentic essence of leadership. Epistemologically, knowledge about simplicity is shaped through collective memory, digital narratives, and social comparison. Axiologically, simplicity functions as a primary moral value, a tool for social critique, and a projection of future hopes.
Practical Implications: For leaders and practitioners, simplicity must be managed not only as an internal value but also as a consistent public representation in the digital space.
Originality/value: This study introduces the concept of the Digital Moral Ontology of Leadership Simplicity as a new theoretical contribution that expands understanding of leadership in the digital age, while also opening up new methodological approaches through the combination of netnography and philosophical analysis.
Paper type: Research Paper
References
Asname, F., & Berrada, A. (2024). Netnography: An Innovative Approach to Qualitative Research in the Digital Age. In D. Elomari (Ed.), Qualitative Approaches to Pedagogical Engineering (pp. 1–22). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-6021-7.ch001
Assmann, J. (2011). Cultural Memory and Early Civilization: Writing, Remembrance, and Political Imagination. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511996306
Avolio, B. J., & Gardner, W. L. (2005). Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, Authentic Leadership Development, 16(3), 315–338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.03.001
Bărbuleț, G. (2023). APPLYING PRAGMATIC PRINCIPLES TO SOCIAL MEDIA INTERACTIONS: A CASE-BASED ANALYSIS. Journal of Linguistic and Intercultural Education, 16(1), 7–19. https://doi.org/10.29302/jolie.2023.16.1.1
Barreiro, A., & Perez-Manjarrez, E. (2025). Collective memory, moral judgements, and history education. Current Opinion in Psychology, 66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2025.102113
Bhaskar, P., Tiwari, C. K., & Joshi, A. (2020). Blockchain in education management: Present and future applications. Interactive Technology and Smart Education, 18(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1108/ITSE-07-2020-0102
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2019). Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 11(4), 589–597. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2019.1628806
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2025). Reporting guidelines for qualitative research: A values-based approach. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 22(2), 399–438. https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2024.2382244
Castells, M. (2020). “Space of flows, space of places: Materials for a theory of urbanism in the information age.” In R. T. LeGates & F. Stout (Eds.), The City Reader (pp. 240–251). Taylor and Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429261732-30
Chordiya, P. B., Kalshetti, P., Selvakumar, P., Limbore, N. V., Anute, N. B., & Ahluwalia, G. K. (2025). Ethical leadership and corporate responsibility. In S. A. Harriott (Ed.), Innovative Approaches to Managing Conflict and Change in Diverse Work Environments (pp. 193–218). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-9556-1.ch009
Couldry, N., & Hepp, A. (2017). The Mediated Construction of Reality. Polity.
Cui, X. (2018). Nick Couldry and Andreas Hepp. The Mediated Construction of Reality. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2017, ix + 290 pp., ISBN No. 978-0-7456-8131-3 (paperback). Mass Communication and Society, 21(1), 145–147. https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2017.1407584
Dahiya, R., Selvakumar, P., Ahluwalia, G. K., Sujata, Manjunath, T. C., & Anute, N. (2025). Ethical Leadership and Decision Making. In A. Y. Ige-Olaobaju, I. O. Ganiyu, S. O. Atiku, & O. M. Olarewaju (Eds.), Advances in Ethical Work Climate and Employee Well-Being (pp. 45–65). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-8819-8.ch003
De Leon, M. V., & Tubay, J. B. (2020). Ethical leadership of supervisors and internal social capital in a financial institution. International Journal of Economics and Business Administration, 8(2), 291–301. https://doi.org/10.35808/ijeba/462
Denzin, N. K. (2012). Triangulation 2.0*. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 6(2), 80–88. https://doi.org/10.1177/1558689812437186
Dewi, R., Priyanti, H., Aisyah, T., & Hasyem, M. (2025). Implementasi E-Government Berbasis Online Single Submission (OSS) Dalam Upaya Meningkatkan Kualitas Layanan Publik Digital. Jurnal Pemerintahan Dan Politik, 10(3), 579–593. https://doi.org/10.36982/jpp.v10i3.5340
Folloni, A. (2020). Freedom as capability in Amartya Sen from his criticism to utilitarianism. A e C - Revista de Direito Administrativo e Constitucional, 20(80), 103–124. https://doi.org/10.21056/aec.v20i80.1329
Fry, L. W. (2003). Toward a theory of spiritual leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 14(6), 693–727. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2003.09.001
Ghazvineh, A. (2025). Interactive Signs and Digital Umwelts: Rethinking Meaning in the Age of Platfospheres. Biosemiotics, 18(3), 495–515. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12304-025-09607-z
Hine, C. (2020). Ethnography for the Internet: Embedded, Embodied and Everyday. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003085348
Isabella, I., Iriyani, A., & Lestari, D. P. (2023). Literasi Digital sebagai Upaya Membangun Karakter Masyarakat Digital. Jurnal Pemerintahan Dan Politik, 8(3), 167–172. https://doi.org/10.36982/jpg.v8i3.3236
James, S., Desborough, J., McInnes, S., & Halcomb, E. (2019). Strategies for using non-participatory video research methods in general practice. Nurse Researcher, 27(2). https://doi.org/10.7748/nr.2019.e1667
Kozinets, R. V. (2002). The field behind the screen: Using netnography for marketing research in online communities. Journal of Marketing Research, 39(1), 61–72. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.39.1.61.18935
Kozinets, R. V., & Gambetti, R. (Eds.). (2020a). Netnography Unlimited: Understanding Technoculture using Qualitative Social Media Research. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003001430
Kozinets, R. V., & Gambetti, R. (Eds.). (2020b). Netnography Unlimited: Understanding Technoculture using Qualitative Social Media Research. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003001430
Mabizela, H. (2025). Erosion of Public Trust in the Government of South Africa. In H. Mabizela & N. Dorasamy (Eds.), Development in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Political and Governance Considerations (pp. 150–167). Taylor and Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003629689-8
Macintyre, P. D. (2007). Willingness to Communicate in the Second Language: Understanding the Decision to Speak as a Volitional Process. The Modern Language Journal, 91(4), 564–576. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2007.00623.x
Malik, M. A., & Khan, M. I. (2025). A Narrative Review of Ethical Leadership in Public Management: Charting the Way Forward. Public Organization Review, 25(3), 1135–1159. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-025-00855-8
Marlina, E., Purwaningsih, M., Siagian, A. H. A. M., Hakim, S. A., & Maryati, I. (2024). Ensuring Trustworthiness in Qualitative Research: The Role of Triangulation Techniques. In R. Throne (Ed.), Qualitative Research Methods for Dissertation Research (pp. 347–375). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-3069-2.ch012
Mozumder, N. A. (2022). Can Ethical Political Leadership Restore Public Trust in Political Leaders? Public Organization Review, 22(3), 821–835. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-021-00536-2
Papacharissi, Z. (2016). Affective publics and structures of storytelling: Sentiment, events and mediality. Information, Communication & Society, 19(3), 307–324. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2015.1109697
Pereira, V. (2025). Distributed Leadership. In B. Laker, L. R. Soga, & Y. Bolade-Ogunfodun (Eds.), Elgar Encyclopedia of Leadership (pp. 61–62). Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781035307074.00032
Prakash, S. B., Suneetha, S., Jayaprada, N., & Havisha, K. A. (2025). Building trust from within: How authentic leadership empowers effective internal marketing in the digital age. In S. K. Oruganti, D. A. Karras, S. S. Thakur, J. K. Chaithanya, S. Metta, & A. Lathigara (Eds.), Digital Transformation and Sustainability of Business (pp. 677–680). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003606185-161
Scholl, A. (2017). Couldry, Nick & Hepp, Andreas: The Mediated Construction of Reality. Publizistik, 62(4), 489–491. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11616-017-0363-3
Searle, J. R. (1995). The Construction of Social Reality. Simon and Schuster.
Sen, A. (1999). Development as Freedom. Oxford University Press.
Su, Y. (2024). Netnography. In P. M. Pedersen (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Sport Management, Second Edition (pp. 649–651). Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781035317189.ch378
Syamsudin, I. (2021). Efektivitas Organisasi Dinas Pendapatan Daerah (Dispenda) Kota Palembang Dan Faktor-Faktor Yang Mempengaruhinya. Jurnal Pemerintahan Dan Politik, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.36982/jpg.v6i1.1324
Treviño, L. K., Hartman, L. P., & Brown, M. (2000). Moral Person and Moral Manager: How Executives Develop a Reputation for Ethical Leadership. California Management Review, 42(4), 128–142. https://doi.org/10.2307/41166057
Virnandes, S. R., Shen, J., & Vlahu-Gjorgievska, E. (2024). Shaping Trust in Public Service: A Convergent Mixed-methods Investigation of Digital Government Transformation. Proc. - Pac. Asia Conf. on Inf. Syst., PACIS. Proceedings - 28th Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems, PACIS 2024.
Wallis, A. (2023). Netnography. In S. Nayar & M. Stanley (Eds.), Qualitative Research Methodologies for Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy: Second Edition (pp. 289–303). Taylor and Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003456216-16
Walumbwa, F. O., Avolio, B. J., Gardner, W. L., Wernsing, T. S., & Peterson, S. J. (2008). Authentic Leadership: Development and Validation of a Theory-Based Measure†. Journal of Management, 34(1), 89–126. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206307308913
Williams, J. P., Dholakia, N., Zhang, D., & Ostrower, F. (2008). Nonparticipant Observation. In The SAGE Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods. SAGE Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412963909
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Abstract views: 180
/ PDF downloads: 131
