Analysis of Virtual Communication Behavior of Students in Medan During the Covid-19 - Rigeo
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REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL GEOGRAPHICAL EDUCATION
ISSN: 2146-0353 ● © RIGEO ● 11(8), SPRING, 2021
www.rigeo.org Research Article
Analysis of Virtual Communication Behavior of
Students in Medan During the Covid-19
Pandemic
Rudianto Fadhil Pahlevi Hidayat Sigit Hardiyanto
Muhammadiyah University of Muhammadiyah University of Muhammadiyah University of
North Sumatra, Jl. Kapten North Sumatra, Jl. Kapten North Sumatra, Jl. Kapten
Mukhtar Basri No. 3 Medan, Mukhtar Basri No. 3 Medan Mukhtar Basri No. 3 Medan
e-mail: rudianto@umsu.ac.id
* Corresponding author, e-mail: rudianto@umsu.ac.id
Abstract
This study aims to analyze the virtual communication behavior of students at the high school level in
Medan, during the covid-19 pandemic. This research will explain the virtual communication behavior of
students during the COVID-19 in teaching and learning activities, behavior when interacting with friends,
and communication behavior with family. The research method used is descriptive qualitative with data
collection techniques using observation and interviews. The results of this study indicate that the virtual
communication behavior of high school students in Medan City during learning activities, with friends,
and family use various social media platforms, such as Whatsapp, Instagram, zoom, google classroom
and others. Then, the advantage of virtual communication during the COVID-19 is the ease of conveying
and disseminating information, it can be done anywhere and anytime, using supporting devices such as
laptops, computers, and smartphones that are used by students as intermediaries connected to the
internet network.
Keywords
Virtual Communication, Medan, Covid-19.
To cite this article: Rudianto, Hidayat, F. P., Hardiyanto, S. (2021) Analysis of Virtual Communication Behavior of
Students in Medan During the Covid-19 Pandemic. Review of International Geographical Education (RIGEO), 11(8),
157-163. doi: 10.48047/rigeo.11.08.15
Submitted: 13-10-2020 ● Revised: 15-12-2020 ● Accepted: 17-02-2021© RIGEO ● Review of International Geographical Education 11(8), Spring 2021
Introduction
The spread of the coronavirus or covid-19 that has spread throughout the world, including
Indonesia, has made the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend several steps and
strategies to prevent transmission of the coronavirus, including physical distancing or keeping a
distance. The reason is that the coronavirus can spread through droplets when someone coughs,
sneezes or discharges from the mouth when talking to other people.
Due to the massive transmission, it is necessary to make social and distance restrictions that must
be implemented strictly. Therefore, maintaining a distance of at least 1 to 2 meters from other
people is one of the preventive measures taken by mankind today to break the chain of
transmission of Covid-19 (Gan, Lim, & Koh, 2020).
According to Moreno, Wykes, Galderisi, Nordentoft et al. (2020) The policies issued by the
government regarding social distancing may reduce or inhibit the spread of the coronavirus. And
this policy is considered the most effective in reducing transmission of the coronavirus by
preventing people who are sick or exposed to the coronavirus from making direct contact with
other people who are not sick.
The consequences of the WHO recommendation, causing the activities of people's lives in various
countries to change completely. Including in Indonesia, since March 2020 until now, the
government has limited the activities and interactions of citizens in various fields, including
educational activities. The Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia issued a
study from home policy and prohibited schools from carrying out learning activities in schools. This
is stated in the circular letter of the Minister of Education and Culture number 4 of 2020 containing
the implementation of education policies in the emergency period of the spread of the
coronavirus (COVID-19) and followed by Circular Letter Number 15 of 2020 concerning Guidelines
for Organizing Learning from Home in an Emergency Period of the Spread of Covid-19 (Hamid,
Sentryo, & Hasan, 2020).
Under these conditions, student activities, including those in high school, which are usually in
school, have switched to learning from home activities by relying on communication technology,
or what is often called online or networked learning. Online learning is a solution as a form of
learning carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Online learning can be interpreted as learning that is connected to the internet network that gives
rise to various types of interactions in learning, such as accessibility, flexibility, and connectivity. In
addition, learning also presents abilities that can change the way of delivery, knowledge and
alternative learning that has been carried out only in the classroom (Ana, Minghat, Purnawarman,
Saripudin et al., 2020; Moore, Dickson-Deane, & Galyen, 2011; Zhang, Zhao, Zhou, & Nunamaker
Jr, 2004).
Several supporting factors make online learning possible, including smartphones, credit, quota,
and a good and stable internet network. Smartphones are the most important main factor
because, without a smartphone, online learning cannot be carried out. These factors are facilities
that can make the teaching and learning process run smoothly and make it easier for educators
to provide material online (Fauzi & Khusuma, 2020; R. Putri, Purwanto, Pramono, Asbari et al., 2020).
In addition to being used to carry out online learning, students utilize the latest communication
technology in the era of the industrial revolution 4.0 for communication needs as a substitute for
face-to-face communication which is replaced by virtual communication based on digital
technology. Students generally communicate by using smartphones in which internet-based
technology and social media are embedded.
Social media is an application or website that forms an online-based network that allows people
to interact with each other. Not only interacting, but social media can also carry out various other
activities, such as exchanging information, collaborating, and others both in visual and
audiovisual forms. The types of social media that are often used in everyday life, namely
Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, Blogs, and others (Hidayat & Ginting, 2020).
Current technological developments at first no one predicted that it would happen so quickly
that it could be used almost without limitation of place and time (Yang, Han, Liu, Han et al., 2020).
The development of communication technology has an impact on various aspects of life, work,
environment, and others.
The presence of computers, laptops, smartphones continues to grow and change with the latest
innovations. However, the most important thing in the era of the industrial revolution 4.0 is the
158Rudianto, Hidayat, F. P., Hardiyanto, S. (2021) Analysis of Virtual Communication Behavior of Students in……….
communication behavior of a person with other people that takes place by utilizing digital
technology so that it can bring people together to interact virtually (Sepashvili, 2020).
This change also occurred in all student activities at the Medan City High School, especially during
the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic which caused students to be unable to attend school as
usual. So all learning activities are replaced with technology or what is known as online learning.
But in reality, restrictions on school activities not only make teaching and learning activities take
place online or virtual, but also student interactions with friends, teachers, and family also take
place virtually.
Based on the results of previous studies also show that virtual communication, especially in learning
that occurs between students and teachers is more flexible than face-to-face learning
communication. Virtual communication used with the help of the Whatsapp application makes
communication occur in many directions, either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally (A. V. Putri &
Irwansyah, 2020).
Virtual communication is a way of communicating where the delivery and receipt of messages is
done through cyberspace or commonly called cyberspace. Virtual communication forms in this
century are loved by everyone and can be found anywhere and anytime. One form of virtual
communication is the use of the internet. As stated by Wattanacharoensil and Schuckert (2015),
the results of his research say that virtual communication also makes it easier for anyone, including
students, to interact with each other using various social media.
Therefore, this study will examine the Virtual Communication Behavior of High School Students in
Medan City during the Covid-19 pandemic so that they can find related concepts, patterns, and
models such as the virtual communication behavior of high school students during the Covid-19
pandemic. The purpose of this study is to see a description of the study of virtual communication
behavior carried out by students in the city of Medan during the covid-19 pandemic, such as the
form of virtual student communication while studying and when carrying out activities outside of
learning during the covid-19 pandemic. The context of virtual communication discussed here is
the behavior of students in utilizing learning media, the meaning of message exchange carried
out through communication activities for Medan City High School students. The findings of this
study are not only scientifically useful, namely finding the latest phenomena in human
communication activities but are also useful and contribute to society and the nation to help
overcome various problems that arise due to virtual communication used by the community,
including: high school students during the covid-19 pandemic.
Methodology
The research method used in this study is a qualitative method with a descriptive approach.
Qualitative research methods are under the umbrella of the subjective paradigm which believes
that individuals interpret phenomena or events they experience and see that rely on evidence-
based on systematic logic, the principle of numbers, or statistical methods. Actual speech,
gestures, and other social actions are the mental material for qualitative analysis (Tracy, 2019).
Data was collected using literature review, observation, unstructured interviews, and FGD.
Literature review through collecting data and information from journals, mass media articles,
books. Observations are made through observations through social media, mass media,
discussions, and dialogues.
In addition, unstructured interviews were conducted to collect data directly from high school
students in Medan City through communication technologies such as Whatsapp, Zoom,
telephone lines, and other digital communication facilities. Meanwhile, FGD was conducted to
obtain in-depth data, input, and information related to the development of concepts and models
that will be produced in this research.
Furthermore, all data is collected and the information needed in a study is called analyzing data.
According to Miles and Huberman analyzing data can be done in various ways in qualitative
research, namely, by collecting, reducing, and presenting data, then concluding (Hennink,
Hutter, & Bailey, 2020). The research data analysis technique used qualitative data analysis
techniques with categorization and data reduction patterns. The data obtained from
observations, interviews, and FGD research processes will be sorted by categorization to select
important and meaningful findings through a data reduction process.
159© RIGEO ● Review of International Geographical Education 11(8), Spring 2021
Results and Discussion
Research on analysis virtual communication behavior of students at the high school level in
Medan during the covid-19 pandemic which was carried out in February 2021 on 30 Medan City
High School students who became research sources consisting of 16 students (53.3%) was female
and 14 students (46.7%) were male.
Table 1
Frequency by Gender
Gender Frequency Percentage
Man 14 46.7
Girl 16 53.5
Total 30 100%
The age background of students who are divided into age groups, including 14 students (46.7%)
aged 16 years, 8 students (26.7%) aged 17 years, 6 students (20%) aged 15 years, and as many as
2 students (6.7%) were 18 years old. Meanwhile, judging from the classification based on the class
of high school students in Medan, there are 17 students (56.7%) in class XI, 10 students (33.3%) in
class X, and as many as 3 students (10%) in class XII.
Figure 1. Graph of Age Respondents
When viewed from the type of virtual communication used by Medan City High School students
during the covid pandemic when studying at school, there were very diverse uses, including
various social media platforms, which are network-based or online media that are used by
students as users when interacting, sharing in social media. scope in social media and the virtual
world without being limited by space and time.
Types of virtual communication that students do with friends during the COVID-19 pandemic by
utilizing social media platforms for chatting and video calling activities. According to Sazali,
Siregar, and Putri (2020) Social media is online media that can connect someone with other
people easily and quickly, also allows someone to participate, communicate, share and provide
information through social media where the use of social media must be connected to the
internet network.
Social media is also one of the products of technological sophistication that is classified in various
forms, according to Supratman and Wahyudin (2017) various types of social media are used in
everyday life including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, WhatsApp, and so on. Various
activities were used with social media platforms for students during the Covid-19 pandemic,
namely conducting virtual school learning activities, using various platforms, such as e-learning
based (Stern, 2018). In addition to using e-learning, learning can also be done using google
classroom, zoom, WhatsApp group, and several other supporting media platforms in the process
of student learning activities in the city of Medan.
The advantage of online learning is that students have the freedom to manage their time
independently in learning which makes learning more flexible (Rahmawati & Sujono, 2021). This is
also revealed from the results of research conducted by Sutarto, Sari, and Fathurrochman (2020)
who stated that the advantages of online learning during the current covid-19 pandemic are very
useful for the long term, not only for the pandemic situation but this online learning can advance
160Rudianto, Hidayat, F. P., Hardiyanto, S. (2021) Analysis of Virtual Communication Behavior of Students in……….
the nation's children and teachers in the world of technology in the future.
This form of communication is very often used by students anywhere and anytime. One form of
virtual communication carried out by Medan City High School students with peers such as chatting
activities is to use several internet-based media platforms, including making video calls using
platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Messenger, Instagram. In addition to social media, the
use of virtual communication is also used with supporting devices such as laptops, computers, and
smartphones that make virtual communication access faster, easier, can be done anywhere and
anytime.
In addition to virtual communication for high school students in Medan City at school, during the
COVID-19 pandemic, virtual communication was also carried out with distant families by utilizing
media platforms such as using WhatsApp video calls. Virtual communication carried out by high
school students online either at school or with family is a technological development that helps
students when communicating, especially two-way communication and long distances.
This virtual communication has advantages as a medium for conveying, disseminating information
during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as access that is quite fast and easy, can be done
anywhere, anytime. In addition, according to Levine-Clark (2017) mentions that virtual
communication can better reach students who have difficulty attending class by using supporting
devices such as laptops, computers, and smartphones that are used by students as intermediaries
connected to the internet network.
In general, virtual communication carried out by Medan City High School students is by using
social media platforms. The variety of features presented by various social media platforms feels
so fun to actualize in everyday life. In addition, the social media platform that students use when
conducting virtual communication has advantages such as time effectiveness, increasing student
insight, and making it easier for students to communicate directly.
However, virtual communication carried out by Medan City High School students is also
inseparable from obstacles in its use, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Constraints that
occur in virtual communication, such as not conducive to student understanding when learning
online, limited meeting time, media devices used, and poor networks.
On the other hand, many students and teachers are not ready to face online learning because
of the lack of information about the technology used, some of which are difficult to get an internet
network that is too expensive. The ineffectiveness of online learning is because it is difficult for
students to provide feedback when doing the learning, in contrast to students and teachers who
do face-to-face learning in the classroom.
Likewise with the results of research presented by Ilmadi, Zarista, Aden, and Sastro (2020) states
that the obstacles for students to use long-distance virtual communication technology are in the
form of lack of facilities or facilities in the form of smartphones with adequate technology and
sufficient Internet Data Package Quotas, then low motivation, lack of discipline in participating in
online learning which results in teacher assessments of students becoming incomplete and not
optimal.
Some of the efforts made by students in overcoming the obstacles faced when conducting virtual
communication by creating virtual communication strategies include communication planning
with virtual-based communication management to achieve the goals that have been set where
the process of delivering and receiving messages through cyberspace or virtual space that is
interactive and message path through internet network-based media. Besides that, another
strategy that is carried out is to use social media platforms used appropriately, it is necessary to
prepare infrastructure in the form of adequate networks, the level of readiness of students and
teachers when conducting virtual communication.
Conclusion
The conclusions in this study are virtual communication carried out by Medan City High School
students with friends during the covid-19 pandemics such as chatting activities using several
internet-based media platforms, including making video calls using platforms such as WhatsApp,
Telegram, Messenger, Instagram. The advantages of virtual communication are as a medium for
conveying, disseminating information during the covid-19 pandemic, such as access that is quite
fast and easy, can be done anywhere, anytime using supporting devices such as laptops,
computers, and smartphones used by students as intermediaries connected to the internet
network.
161© RIGEO ● Review of International Geographical Education 11(8), Spring 2021
The obstacles that arise in conducting virtual communication experienced by Medan City High
School students are: the lack of conducive understanding of students when studying online,
limited meeting time, the media devices used and poor networks became obstacles for students
when conducting virtual communication during the covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, it is expected
that students should use social media platforms in carrying out virtual communication activities
appropriately and wisely because the flow of information from social media is heterogeneous and
this will cause noise if students do not sort out the information on social media platforms.
Research on the analysis of virtual communication behavior in students in Medan City is a
communication study that specializes in student behavior in terms of learning activities at school
and other activities outside of school application of student learning interest in the city of Medan.
The current online learning model must be made as effective as possible on the student learning
system in order to obtain good learning outcomes (achievements). In addition, it is also expected
for other researchers to be able to see broadly related to the problems that arise and can find
out the steps that must be taken to be able to reduce these problems. It is certain that the results
of this study have positive implications for those who are the object of this research. Of the various
problems that occurred as a result of the covid-19 pandemic impacting communication activities
and student activities requiring learning from home, students did not find it difficult to use online
learning media because the flow of information was so fast and flexible that students rarely
experienced obstacles in using virtual communication media. in carrying out all activities both at
school and outside of school.
It is hoped that in the future this research can be used as a reference for other researchers to
develop how to analyze virtual communication which is not only for students but also for the
community so that with similar studies it can expand the study of virtual communication analysis
in the digital era as it is today.
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Abstrak
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis perilaku komunikasi virtual para siswa di tingkat Sekolah
Menengah Atas di Medan, selama masa pandemi covid-19. Analisis riset ini akan menjelaskan
perilaku komunikasi virtual siswa dimasa pandemi covid-19 pada kegiatan belajar mengajar,
perilaku saat berinteraksi dengan teman, serta perilaku komunikasi bersama keluarga. Metode
penelitian yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah penelitian deskriptif kualitatif dengan
teknik pengumpulan data menggunakan observasi dan wawancara. Hasil penelitian ini
menunjukkan bahwa perilaku komunikasi virtual siswa SMA di Kota Medan saat kegiatan belajar,
dengan teman, dan keluarga menggunakan berbagai platform media sosial, seperti whatsapp,
instagam, facebook, zoom, google classroom, dan lain-lain. Kemudian, kelebihan komunikasi
virtual dimasa pandemi covid-19 adalah kemudahan dalam menyampaikan dan menyebarkan
informasi, dapat dilakukan dimana saja dan kapan saja, dengan menggunakan perangkat
pendukung seperti laptop, komputer dan smartphone yang digunakan oleh siswa sebagai
perantara yang terhubung dengan jaringan internet.
Keywords: Komunikasi Virtual, Medan, Covid-19.
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