Exploring the impact of religious hoaxes on social media: a study of student experiences and religiosity

Abstract. The rapid development of information and communication technology increasingly provides easy access and speed of dissemination of religious information. However, this convenience raises new challenges in the form of the spread of hoaxes on social media. This study aims to explore the intensity and experience of students using social media, as well as their responses to hoax information on religious topics and its influence on their religiosity. A qualitative approach with a phenomenological method was chosen, where questionnaire data on the experiences of 38 student respondents collected through Google Forms were analyzed through the stages of data reduction, presentation, and drawing conclusions. The results of the study found that the age of students has an intensity that is closely related to social media. All respondents have found hoax information on religious topics. Although the majority were not affected by the hoax information, there were still a small number of respondents whose beliefs and worship practices were affected. The results of this study have implications for the importance of strengthening digital-based religious literacy among them. Abstrak. Pesatnya perkembangan teknologi informasi dan komunikasi semakin memberikan kemudahan akses dan kecepatan penyebaran informasi keagamaan. Namun, kemudahan ini memunculkan tantangan baru berupa penyebaran hoaks di media sosial. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menggali intensitas dan pengalaman mahasiswa bermedia sosial, serta respon mereka terhadap informasi hoaks tentang topik agama dan pengaruhnya terhadap keberagamaan mereka. Pendekatan kualitatif dengan metode fenomenologis dipilih, di mana data kuesioner pengalaman 38 responden mahasiswa yang terkumpul melalui Google Forms dianalisis melalui tahap reduksi data, penyajian, dan penarikan kesimpulan. Hasil penelitian menemukan bahwa usia mahasiswa memiliki intensitas yang lekat dengan media sosial. Seluruh responden pernah menemukan informasi hoaks tentang topik agama. Walaupun mayoritas tidak terpengaruh informasi hoaks tersebut, namun masih terdapat sebagai kecil dari responden yang keyakinan dan praktik ibadahnya terpengaruh. Hasil studi ini berimplikasi pada pentingnya memperkuat literasi agama berbasis digital di kalangan mereka.