Politainment Sebagai Strategi Komunikasi Politik: Analisis Peran Influencer Dalam Pembentukan Opini Gen Z

This article explores how politainment and influencers shape political opinion among Generation Z in the contemporary digital communication landscape. The study departs from the rapid migration of political discourse into social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, where political messages are increasingly packaged in entertaining, visual, and emotionally engaging formats. The purpose of this research is to analyze politainment as a political communication strategy and to explain the contribution of influencers in mediating and framing political messages for Gen Z audiences. Using a qualitative literature study, the article synthesizes national and international research on TikTok-based politainment, fandom politics, influencer framing, hybrid media systems, and the digital political engagement of young voters. The findings show that politainment simplifies complex political issues into short, aesthetic, and emotionally charged content, while influencers act as trusted intermediaries who reframe politics through humor, storytelling, personal branding, and relatable everyday narratives. Algorithmic amplification reinforces repeated exposure, creating affective publics and opinion formation that are driven more by emotional resonance, identity, and viral trends than by rational policy evaluation. The study concludes that politainment and influencers constitute a powerful, yet ambivalent, force in shaping Gen Z political opinion and recommends that political actors, educators, and influencers employ more ethical, substantive, and literacy-oriented strategies in order to support healthier and more reflective democratic participation among young citizens.