Teori Spiral Keheningan (Spiral of Silence Theory)

Abstract

Development of communications theory which always follow the development of the science of communication that are multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research to create any variety. One of the survey is about the influence of culture and society. The focus of this study is the spiral of silence theory. This article will try to explain this theory further communication from the perspective of Islam. Search results show that the spiral of silence theory is a process in which the individual states his opinion on a topic that has been defined by the media to the public, people will choose to remain silent for fear of being isolated. The spiral of silence theory assumptions are: (1) the threat to the individual as opposed to through the insulation, (2) fear of isolation causes individuals always studying atmosphere of public opinion, and (3) Conduct an assessment of the public affected by public opinion. The strong influence of the media because the public was not given a broad interpretation of events and balanced as well as having three characteristics of media ubiquity, cumulativeness, and consonance. But the weakness of the spiral of silence theory is constrained to acknowledge the involvement of ego and does not apply to people who are known to be hard core. This theory can not fully serve as the basis of the concept of communication, given the reference to this theory focused on public opinion and the media without authorization under consideration within the framework of al-amr bi al-ma’ruf and al-nahy ‘an al-munkar. Sometimes quality is more influential than the quantity, the spiral is also not applicable.