Exploring Affective Meaning in Indonesian TikTok News Comment Sections

Nazzaura Kayla Audrey; Theofani Donita Padang; Intan Putri Ginary; M. Syafiq; Grace Chelvia Ginting

doi:10.53863/jrk.v5i02.1917

Authors

Nazzaura Kayla Audrey Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia
Theofani Donita Padang Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia
Intan Putri Ginary Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia
M. Syafiq Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia
Grace Chelvia Ginting Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53863/jrk.v5i02.1917

Keywords:

Affective meaning, TikTok comments, Ekman emotions, Leech semantics

Abstract

This study analyzes affective meaning in the comment sections of Indonesian TikTok news accounts using Leech's (1981) semantic theory and Ekman's (1992) framework of six basic emotions: happiness, sadness, anger, disgust, surprise, and fear. The research aims to identify how TikTok users express emotions and attitudes toward news content through linguistic choices and emoji usage. A qualitative content analysis approach was employed, wherein twenty-five comments were collected through purposive sampling from five official news accounts: Inilah.com, Kumparan, Kompas TV, CNN Indonesia, and Detik.com. Data collection occurred between June and November 2025, focusing on videos with a minimum of ten million views. From each account, five of the most-liked comments were selected for semantic analysis. Both researchers independently analyzed the comments and compared interpretations to ensure reliability. The findings show that anger appeared most frequently (7 instances), followed by fear (6), sadness (4), disgust (4), happiness (2), and surprise (2). These results indicate that emotional responses on TikTok are often dominated by negative or serious feelings, reflecting users' sensitivity toward issues such as injustice, danger, and tragedy. Overall, the study concludes that affective meaning in TikTok comment sections not only represents individual emotions but also reflects collective empathy and cultural values within Indonesian digital discourse.

References

Ardana, Hide, Daosti, Janaki, & Zen, Evynurul Laily. (2025). Associative Meanings In The Scouse Dialect Of English In Tv Series "The Responder" Season 1 Episode 1. (2017), 28–32.

Astuti, Caring for Compliments, & Antique, Ria. (2025). Associative Meaning Analysis in a Selected Song from The Rolling Stones. Journal of Onoma: Education, Language, and Literature, 11(3), 3151–3160. https://doi.org/10.30605/onoma.v11i3.6180

Azura, Siti, Rangkuti, Rahmadsyah, & Nasution, Ely Hayati. (2025). English Expressions Frequently Used By Indonesian Social Media "X" Users: A Morpho-Semantic Analysis. PRASASTI: Journal of Linguistics, 10(1), 130. https://doi.org/10.20961/prasasti.v10i1.93082

Basch, Corey H., Hillyer, Grace C., & Jaime, Christie. (2022). COVID-19 on TikTok: harnessing an emerging social media platform to convey important public health messages. International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health, 34(5), 367–369. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijamh-2020-0111

Coppini, Sara, Lucifora, Chiara, Vicario, Carmelo M., & Gangemi, Aldo. (2023). Experiments on real-life emotions challenge Ekman's model. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-36201-5

Elfisnur, Nurfaradilla. (2020). Leech's Seven Types Of Meaning Analysis In Nct Dream's Song 'Rains In Heaven.

Fadhila Rahmadina. (2024). An Analysis of Idiomatic Expression in Aladdin (2019) Film Soundtrack Lyrics. 8(2019), 465–476.

Ihkam, Muhammad Hadiyan, & Nafisah, Nadya. (2020). Associative Meaning In Kamil Kailani's Abu Al-Hasan: Geoffrey Leech Semantic Study. 149–158.

Latifah, Nur, Amilia, Safira Machruza, & Masrokhin, Masrokhin. (2023). Social and Affective Meaning of Covid-Related Terms in 'New York Times' Online News (Vol. 1). https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-002-2_4

Nasution, Kholilah Yuniar, Lismawarni, Lismawarni, Sinambela, Mesra, & Daulay, Dina Puspitra Sari. (2025). A Semantic Analysis of Taylor Swift's Songs: Leech's Seven Types of Meaning. JOLIES: Journal of Linguistic and English Studies, 2(1), 7–13. https://doi.org/10.33506/jole.v2i1.3472

Safiuddin, Lisnawati, Putra, Ansor, & Amstrong, Neil. (2021). Affective Meaning in The Kissing Booth Movie Script. ELITE: Journal of English Language and Literature, 4(1), 178–191. https://doi.org/10.33772/elite.v4i1.1140

Salsabilla, Dinda, & Muhammad Yusuf. (2023). Affective Meaning in the Jakarta Globe Articles: Semantic Analysis. Linguistics of Literary Translation (LINGTERSA), 4(2), 75–82. https://doi.org/10.32734/lingtersa.v4i2.13474

Sari, Rahma Kamanda. (2023). The Analysis Of Semantics Meaning Found In Comments Of Instagram Account Of Infosumbar Based On Leech' Theories. CELTI: Conference on English Language Teaching, 3, 905–915.

Sell, Tara Kirk, Hosangadi, Divya, & Trotochaud, Marc. (2020). Misinformation and the US Ebola communication crisis: Analyzing the veracity and content of social media messages related to a fear-inducing infectious disease outbreak. BMC Public Health, 20(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-08697-3

Syah Putra, Aidil, Alyani, Elsa, Melyana, Mita, & Sari, Sekar Wulan. (2024). An Analysis of Semantic Meaning Found in Ted Talks Instagram Caption. Contribution: Research Dissemination for Community Development, 7(2), 94. https://doi.org/10.30587/kontribusia.v7i2.8068

Yelliza, Yelliza, Siska, Siska, & Nusi, Ahmad. (2021). An Analysis of Affective Meaning in Tourism Advertisement. Journal of Asian Studies: Culture, Language, Art and Communications, 2(1), 56–70. https://doi.org/10.51817/jas.v2i1.25