Etika Berbahasa Dan Literasi Digital Dalam Konten Media Sosial: Analisis Dokumentasi Visual Tentang Kesantunan, Verivikasi Informasi, Dan Perlindungan Privasi

Abstract

Social media has expanded public communication while creating ethical challenges related to linguistic politeness, information verification, harmful speech, and privacy protection. This article describes how linguistic ethics and digital literacy are represented in educational social-media content, based on three screenshots containing messages about social interaction, online conduct, and risks in digital communication. The study employs a qualitative descriptive approach using visual content analysis and documentation. Verbal and visual elements visible in the images were categorized into the following themes: respectful communication, careful selection and sharing of information, source attribution, personal-data protection, and awareness of provocation, defamation, racism, and hate. The analysis indicates that the selected content represents digital ethics as a practice involving language, information, and social responsibility. Politeness is presented not only as the use of appropriate words but also as avoiding humiliation, verifying information before sharing it, acknowledging sources, and respecting other people’s privacy. The study suggests that visual educational content can provide a contextual starting point for discussing digital literacy. Nevertheless, because the dataset consists of only three images, the findings cannot be generalized to the behaviour of Generation Z as a whole. Further research should expand the corpus, verify the original post context, and examine audience responses.