p–ISSN: 2723 - 6609 e-ISSN: 2745-5254

Vol. 5, No. 8 August 2024 http://jist.publikasiindonesia.id/

Jurnal Indonesia Sosial Teknologi, Vol. 5, No. 8, August 2024 2924

Digital Communication Strategies in Building Online

Communities: A Case Study in Remote Work Communities

(KKR)

3

*Correspondence

The history of remote working in the world began with the development of the terms

"telecommuting" and "telework" in 1973 when the terms "telecommuting" and "telework"

were used (Fauzana, 2022). The scientist who first initiated it was Jack Nilles, an

information technology expert. Remote working (United Kingdom: telecommuting,

remote working) (Rawinarno, Shafira, Widiarto, & Alynudin, 2023). Another equivalent

term: work from home (United Kingdom: Work From Home/WFH) is a model or

employment agreement in which employees gain the flexibility to work in terms of where

nomad workers or web commuters. These people use communication technology to work

from cafes or other places that are convenient for them (Mungkasa, 2020).

Another term that has a broader meaning than Remote Worker is Telework

(Wikipedia (2023) from Woody Leonhard). Telework refers to the replacement of any

form of telecommunication technology related to work-for-travel, which ultimately

reduces the barrier of distance with telecommuting (Nursyamsi, Siregar, & Nurahlina,

2022). A person who telecommutes is commonly referred to as a "telecommuter". The

motto often echoed by telecommuters is "Work is something we do, not and not the

purpose of travelling."

The naming of remote work has many names, such as 'remote working', 'distance

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the trend of remote workers in Indonesia has

experienced a significant increase. Jobstreet, an online platform that provides search and

recruitment services, shows that before the pandemic, only 4% of respondents worked

remotely, but this figure increased to 13% during the pandemic (Nursatyo & Rosliani,

2018).

Jobstreet surveyed 33,084 respondents in Indonesia in November-December 2020.

Jobstreet conducted a survey in Indonesia as well as similar surveys in 189 other

countries. As a result of a survey conducted by Jobstreet, the number of Indonesian

workers working remotely has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Only 4% of

people surveyed worked remotely before the pandemic. The pandemic increased the

who work full-time in the office dropped from 68% to 46%. Only 9% of respondents still

want to work in the office during the pandemic. This is in contrast to 23% of respondents

who expected to be able to work remotely during the pandemic.

A McKinsey study found that nearly 60% of people in the United States have the

option to work remotely, at least part-time. While 35% can work from home full-time

(WFH) (Halim, 2023). This trend is happening across all age groups and industries,

although some industries are better suited for remote work than others.

Remote Work Community (KKR) is a community of remote workers, freelancers,

freelancers and solopreneurs in Indonesia. This community was established in 2015 by

Rahmat Awaludin. This community aims to bring together remote workers and provide a

each other without any position limitations, this communication process is called the all-

channel communication pattern. The communication process at Visualabs Indonesia is

mediated by various communication technologies in the form of applications such as

Zoom Meeting, Telegram and WhatsApp, this process is called Computer-Mediated

Communication (CMC). By using the CMC model theory as a research guide, the

obstacles that often occur when remote working are missed communication, missed

perception, difficulty in showing expression, lack of social relationships, only making

friends through social media, communication is more work-oriented, and employees limit

professional and non-professional relationships.

Meanwhile, in a study entitled "The Utilization of Social Media for Community

Community who do not understand how to maximize Social Media properly and correctly

so that their community can develop better.

However, from the two studies, there is no information about communication

strategies and communication patterns for members of Digital-Based Communities, such

as those conducted by the Remote Work Community (KKR). Therefore, the question in

this study is to explore "How is Digital Communication Strategy in Building Online

Communities: A Case Study in Remote Work Communities (KKR)?"

Research on Communication Strategies Digital Communication Strategies in

Descriptive research makes a systematic, factual, and accurate description of the

facts and properties of certain objects (Ellulu, Abed, Rahmat, Ranneh, & Ali, 2014). This

descriptive study will be by the reality that is happening without explaining the

relationship between variables. Data collection for this study uses interview methods,

internet searching, observation and literature studies related to verbal communication.

Interviews are conducted directly face-to-face with informants or research participants so

that the analysis of the resulting data can be more detailed and rich.

Descriptive qualitative research methods can be used in this case study, for

example, to get a clear and detailed picture of the digital communication strategies used

by communities to build and grow their online communities. Furthermore, the resulting

communication, discussion, information sharing, and question-and-answer. As the parent

platform, it is in the form of a Forum Website with the name www.kamikerjaremote.com

page. Although this community was established in 2015, its website was only launched

in September 2023.

Figure 2 Remote Work Community (KKR) Web Forum

Figure 3 Features of the Remote Work Community (KKR) Website

While other platforms are:

1. Facebook: We Work Remote

Figure 4 Remote Work Community (KKR) Facebook Account

KKR's Facebook account has 59.3 thousand members spread throughout Indonesia

and abroad. KKR's Facebook profile reads:

2. Indonesia's community of remote workers and freelancers.

What we contribute to society and the country is to build careers from home, help

degree.

For users who want to join, please use their real name. Users with the names of

objects or other strange things will not be approved.

vacancy information for Remote or Freelance Workers but also in the form of information

The Bandung KKR Management became the resource person for the FGD and the

Launching of the West Java Digital Service Public Vehicle at Gedung Sate, Bandung,

West Java. Become a Resource Person in the JDS Tech Update Special.

5. Launching the KKR Website Launch

KKR Management and Members Held an Offline Gathering as well as the

Launching of the KKR Website in 3 major cities, namely Jakarta, Bandung and Malang.

Partnership

In addition to partnering with the government, KKR also establishes group

communication in the form of partnerships with IDCloudHost, Kirim. Email, UTAS,

RemoteSkill Academy, Automix.AI, LokerBot, Cdiscram Indonesia, and others.

communication strategies and communication patterns. In the research conducted, the

four scopes, namely togetherness, dynamics, temperament, and the ability of the group to

find their meaning.

The researcher found that the togetherness of the KKR Community is built when

there is active interaction in the KKR WAG, online interaction in Facebook Groups and

offline meetings both as resource persons and part of the Partnership. In addition, the

family aspect is intertwined when members share important information about tips and

strategies as Remote Workers, answering each other when there are novice members who

want to get best practices from experienced Remote Workers. In many events, WAG

discussions can last for hours from day to night.

formal or casual communication language. Thus, the atmosphere of familiarity between

fellow members can minimize the emergence of seeds of conflict and feuds, which have

the potential to give birth to disharmonious attitudes.

However, on other occasions, some statements or posts can provoke conditions for

discussion and dialogue leading to conflict. Although this temperament attitude is

common in income differences, in the observation of researchers, this attitude can be

quickly muted and communication conditions return to normal.

What is interesting is the fourth personality of the elaboration of the Group Sintality