A Netnographic Study of the AI-Generated Content of the Television Program on Instagram

Reception Analysis stuart Hall

Abstract

This study investigates audience reception and digital discourse patterns surrounding the adoption of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in national television broadcasting. Specifically, it examines the intense public controversy and backlash on Instagram against TRANS7’s "Legenda Bertuah," Indonesia’s first fully AI-animated television series. Drawing on Robert Kozinets' qualitative netnography framework, this research examines the cultural experiences and interactions of social media users by analyzing archival comments on the program's official Instagram accounts. The data are interpretively analyzed through the theoretical lenses of Stuart Hall's encoding/decoding model and Vincent Mosco’s political economy of communication.The findings reveal a dominant oppositional reception among Indonesian netizens. This resistance is driven by visual and auditory repulsion rooted in the "uncanny valley" effect, manifested in temporal jitter, stiff microexpressions, and robotic narration. Beyond aesthetic critiques, the digital discourse exposes deep socio-economic anxieties regarding labor commodification, the systemic displacement of local animators, copyright infringement of model training data, and the current media regulatory vacuum in Indonesia. This study is significant as it demonstrates that social media platforms serve as vital counter-hegemonic digital public spheres where active users critically evaluate corporate media strategies, resist technocratic cost-cutting, and assert labor rights. Ultimately, it highlights the urgent need for comprehensive digital broadcast regulations and the transition toward ethical, hybrid human-AI creative workflows.