Social Media and Early Marriage During the Covid-19 Pandemic in Indonesia

The covid-19 Pandemic has had a tremendous impact on the world community. Indonesia is one of the countries that has felt the impact of the Pandemic. Activities switch to online. Social media is the primary choice for teenagers. Unfortunately, these teenagers consume much harmful content. The novelty in this research is the high number of early marriages in Bantul, Indonesia, during the Pandemic, which is caused by consuming too often social media content that is not educational. This research method is descriptive qualitative. The data collection in this research is Observation, interview, and focus group discussion. The results showed that the number of early marriages during the Pandemic increased 100 percent. One of the causes of the increasing number of early marriages is social media. In addition to social media factors, several other factors cause early marriage during the Pandemic. Lack of positive activities, lots of free time, low education, low knowledge about the purpose of marriage, family economic factors, and promiscuity have led to an increase in the number of early marriages in adolescents during the Pandemic. In addition, early marriage has an impact on the high divorce rate. Researchers conducted socialization about the purpose of marriage from various points of view, both in terms of health, religion, Marriage Law, and family economy. After the researchers conducted FGDs and socialization, the youth of Bantul, Indonesia, understood the real purpose of marriage