This study examines the use of tourism-based social media to com�municate the idea of nation branding. By using Indonesia as a case
study, this research aims to provide research contexts of demographic,
historical, and contemporary challenges of social media and nation
branding. The research project aims to answer three important objec�tives. Those are to investigate the pattern of tourism-based social
media, the narratives behind the pattern, and the implications to the
concept of nation brand of Indonesia. This study adopts a typology
of photographic representations by using photos, videos, captions,
and hashtags from tourism-based social media. The findings demon�strate the complexity and nuances of Indonesia’s nation branding from
the narrative of a dreamy place through visual imageries and written
texts, the discursive portrayals of people, place, and politics, and the
trajectories of the past. This study implies that Indonesia’s brand is
portrayed using tranquil and rural imageries, the exoticism of local
identity, the symbols of authority in tourism, and the historical nuances
of the nation. This concludes that the nation branding discourse and
practices of Indonesia become a part of the dynamic struggle and
negotiation of nation identity, culture, and governance, which define
and redefine the collective and individual meanings of the country.