Digital Disruption in Gen Z Homeless Media Consumption on Instagram

Social media has shifted the first point at which Generation Z encounters news, while concise and visually rich Instagram posts may provide rapid awareness without complete context. The research problem concerns how readers experience, verify, and construct meaning from information distributed by social-media-centered homeless media. This study analyzes five Generation Z readers in Bekasi City who consume information from Folkative, USS Feed, and Cretivox through Instagram. Using a constructivist paradigm and descriptive phenomenology, data were collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews, digital observation, and documentation, then analyzed using Giorgi’s procedure. Media Richness Theory and Social Construction Theory were applied after phenomenological themes emerged. Findings show that Instagram mainly functions as an entry point, while news portals and other sources remain important for context and verification. Media richness facilitates initial understanding but does not guarantee informational completeness. Disruption therefore occurs in the entry point, sequence, and context of information consumption rather than in the disappearance of news portals.