Indonesian Netizen Responses to Energy Inflation Threats after the Strait of Hormuz Crisis

Abstract

The escalation of the United States–Iran conflict through Operation Epic Fury in February 2026 paralysed the Strait of Hormuz, pushing world oil prices up and strengthening the USD against the Rupiah. This study aims to identify the spectrum of emotional responses of Indonesian netizens on platform X toward the resulting threat of energy inflation, and to explain how a macro geopolitical crisis is collectively constructed and given meaning in digital space. The novelty of the study lies in its interpretive, netnography-based approach using cyber constructivism and sensemaking theory, amid the dominance of computational sentiment classification studies on similar topics. This qualitative research analyses eleven representative posts purposively selected from a corpus of public posts containing the keywords “Selat Hormuz + Dolar”, “Hormuz + Rupiah”, and “Minyak + USD” published between 18 and 30 April 2026, with user identities anonymised. The netnographic analysis found four main themes: (1) worry and anxiety over rising fuel and basic commodity prices; (2) frustration and distrust toward government communication perceived as lacking transparency; (3) sarcasm and resignation as coping expression; and (4) rational optimism based on historical oil price trends. The discussion shows that social media functions as an arena of collective meaning construction that makes a distant geopolitical crisis feel personally close, as well as a space for articulating demands for public accountability. The study bridges digital communication studies and International Relations at the everyday level and offers practical implications for government public communication strategies in facing external economic shocks.