Digital Da'wah Communities in Indonesia: Social Networks and Religious Communication

This study examines communication characteristics and social network formation within digital Islamic preaching communities in Indonesia. It aims to analyze communication patterns and social network-building practices in three communities—Shift Media, UAH Official, and Yuk Ngaji—and identify similarities and differences in their communication strategies. The study employs a descriptive qualitative approach through digital content analysis. The data comprise 30 purposively selected posts published on the communities’ official Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok accounts between March and May 2026. Content selection was based on each community’s dominant communication characteristics: emotional storytelling, educational communication, and community participation. The data were analyzed using Norman Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), supported by the concepts of virtual communities, social capital, and the mediatization of religion. The findings reveal three main models of digital Islamic preaching. Shift Media builds emotion-based social networks through emotional storytelling; UAH Official develops knowledge-based social networks through educational communication and religious authority; while Yuk Ngaji fosters community-based social networks through participatory and lifestyle-oriented approaches. These findings demonstrate that digital Islamic preaching serves not only as a medium for disseminating religious messages but also as a process of identity construction, social relationship formation, and community development in digital environments.