Squid Game Series as Social Phenomenon on Twitter: A Study of Participatory Culture

Abstract

As information becomes more disruptive, now we can access it from the devices in our hands. Globalization has produced many new cultural influences on people in this world, one of which is the Korean Wave. The K-pop industry has quickly grown globally, and Korean films and dramas are the most popular among most people. Through the support of information technology, participation culture is emerging as a new form of culture that allows individuals to create and distribute content. This study investigates how the Indonesian fans of South Korean culture, known as Hallyu, consume and produce new cultural artefacts from the trending Netflix series entitled Squid Game. Using Henry Jenkins' Participatory culture theory with qualitative methods and virtual ethnography, this research analyzed several data on the @kdrama_menfess Twitter social media account. This study found that there were four forms of communication in the account, including affiliation, expression, collaboration in problem-solving, and circulation, where everything was created collectively. The role of the account and the community administrator were inseparable from the role of fans exchanging information.