FOMO WITH CAPITAL: Padel as Lifestyle, Symbolic Value, and Identity Construction among Indonesia’s Urban Middle Class

Method This study examines padel in Indonesia as a cultural practice of consumption, a lifestyle symbol, and a site for constructing urban middle-class identity. A qualitative approach is adopted, employing Norman Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis and focusing on three models: analysis of padel representations in TikTok social media content as the primary corpus, specifically posts from the accounts User A, User B, User C, and User D, spanning 2025 to 2026. The theoretical framework incorporates Jean Baudrillard’s concept of sign value and Mike Featherstone’s perspectives on lifestyle and consumer culture. Results The results reveal three principal findings. First, padel functions as a marker of social distinction, accessible mainly to groups with significant economic, social, and cultural capital, as evidenced by the high costs of courts, rackets, outfits, sports bags, and lessons. Second, social media operates as a platform for meaning-making, constructing padel as a symbol of modernity, prestige, and digital presence through FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) culture and the performativity of urban identity. Third, the glocalization of padel, particularly in Yogyakarta, demonstrates the adaptation of contemporary sports phenomena with local cultural elements, which are then commodified as selling points within the lifestyle industry. Conclusion The study concludes that padel in Indonesian has evolved from a recreational sport into a symbol of urban middle class identity, social distinction, and consumer culture. Through sports marketing and social media, padel is commodified as a marker of modernity, exclusive, and prestige, making participation a form of symbolic consumption and digital self-representation.