WHOSE BALI IS IT? CULTURAL IDENTITY, SYMBOLIC POWER, AND ALGORITHMIC VISIBILITY IN INSTAGRAM TOURISM REPRESENTATION

Abstract

Instagram has transformed tourism representation from a predominantly 
institutional communication practice into a platform-mediated field in which 
governments, tourism businesses, influencers, tourists, and community-oriented actors 
participate in producing and circulating images of destinations. This article examines 
how unequal power relations shape the construction and visibility of Balinese cultural 
identity on Instagram. Instagram materials concerning Bali, including posts and post 
descriptions 
associated 
with 
the 
Bali 
Government Tourism Office 
(@balitourismauthority), Wonderful Indonesia (@wonderfulindonesia), tourism 
businesses, the Bali tourism-curation account @thebaliguideline, and public user
generated material identified through web-indexed Instagram embeds. The analysis is 
informed by Stuart Hall’s theory of representation, Michel Foucault’s discourse and 
power/knowledge, and Pierre Bourdieu’s field and capital theory, while extending the 
framework through the concept of symbolic visibility. The findings identify four 
interconnected representational patterns: the aestheticization of spirituality and 
authenticity; the conversion of culture into consumable lifestyle and tourism value; the 
unequal circulation of representations through social, economic, cultural, and symbolic 
capital; and the platform-mediated amplification of content compatible with 
Instagram’s recommendation and engagement logics. The article argues that