Virtual Homecoming Culture During the Covid-19 Pandemic for Students in Malang City

IJDS INDONESIAN JOURNAL OF DIGITAL SOCIETY Vol.1 No.2 (September 2020) Page 44 – 52 http://journal.unas.ac.id/sosiologi-ijds Virtual Homecoming Culture During the Covid-19 Pandemic for Students in Malang City MUHAMMAD HASAN SURYAWAN ABSTRACT Homecoming has been a tradition of Indonesian society for decades. Those who go home are generally migrants in big cities, such as professionals, workers and even students. For students, Eid al-Fitr homecoming is the right time to take a vacation and relax with their extended family. However, this year's homecoming must be canceled and even prohibited by the government to avoid the spread of Covid-19. So that the purpose of this study is to understand the feelings and experiences of students in Malang City who are not going home due to the Covid -19 pandemic and identify other alternatives as a substitute for going home. This research uses a qualitative approach with descriptive research type. The source of data is from student immigrants in Malang City who do not do the Eid homecoming. Data collection techniques using in-depth interviews (independent interview) and observation. The data validity used triangulation between informant data. The data analysis technique used interactive analysis, namely data reduction, data presentation and conclusion drawing. The results of this study found that immigrant students in Malang City were unable to go home directly for several reasons, (1) restrictions from the government, (2) avoiding the spread of Covid-19 to their hometowns, and (3) prohibitions from their families for reasons of mutual health. . The purpose of the students homecoming in Malang is to have a vacation and stay together. For this reason, another alternative as a medium to substitute for Eid homecoming is to take advantage of sophisticated communication media such as direct face-to-face communication via video calls and taking virtual trips to tourist attractions or places in your hometown, for example using the street view feature in the google maps application. This kind of virtual homecoming certainly cannot replace students' experiences and feelings when going home directly, but the role of information technology of this kind is very important for students. Keywords : Eid al-Fitr, Virtual homecoming, students, Covid-19 pandemic. Muhammad Hasan Suryawan is a student and researcher in Department of Islamic Religious Education Doctoral Program Based on Interdisciplinary Studies, Universitas Islam Negeri Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang. Email: @2020 Departement Sociology, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Nasional. Website : http://sosiologi.fisip.unas.ac.id/ 44 IJDS INDONESIAN JOURNAL OF DIGITAL SOCIETY Vol.1 No.2 (September 2020) Page 44 – 52 http://journal.unas.ac.id/sosiologi-ijds INTRODUCTION Homecoming is one of the cultures of Indonesian society which is always carried out every year before Eid. The importance of going home for the community causes this tradition to be carried out every year by the community. The motives for the Eid al-Fitr homecoming vary, from takbiran, Eid prayers, friendship with family, friendship, giving gifts, zakat, haj burials, attending halal bihalal, and recreation (Muskinun Fuad: 2011). In general, there are two main reasons that underlie someone doing the Eid homecoming, namely first family recreation in a family atmosphere, secondly practical, efficient and socio-cultural on time (Gumilar R. Somantri: 2007). However, the homecoming tradition that is deeply rooted in people's social life must now be prevented by the spread of the corona virus, or coronavirus disease (Covid-19) (Annisa Salsabila: 2020). The worst risk of going home in the midst of a pandemic like now is the spread of Covid-19 to areas that travelers may be able to carry. The reasons for public safety and health at large are of course far more important than people's reasons for returning home at normal times. In big cities like Malang City, the social status of the people is certainly very heterogeneous, including student and student groups. The dominance of students and students studying there are immigrants because they come from various regions throughout Indonesia. The high level of positivity for Covid-19 which generally occurs in big cities raises concerns if there is migration of large numbers of people (going home) from cities to regions which can cause the spread of Covid-19 to become more massive. Therefore, the government policy prohibiting homecoming and restricting access between cities and all provinces in Indonesia causes most immigrant students who live in Malang City to not return home, especially those from provinces outside Java. As a form of government prohibition from going home, a policy of limiting and even prohibiting going home for the community was issued. For example the issuance of Permenhub Number 25 of 2020 concerning transportation control during Eid 1441 H. (cnbcindonesia.com:2020). Likewise, the appeal from the government continues to be made including the prohibition of going home for government officials, ASN, TNI and Polri (national kompas.com: 2020). The aim of the homecoming ban is to prevent the spread of Covid-19 to the regions. But in today's digital era, the moment to meet family and stay in touch can be done by utilizing the sophistication of social media, such as communication media with virtual platforms. People or young people are used to using Whatsapp, Instagram, Facebook, Zoom and other social media applications. In addition, the platform for accessing a certain virtual place is widely used by the public, one of which is using Google Maps, and accessing the Street View feature in which there is a visualization of a place through 3D visuals. Street View content comes from two sources, namely Google and contributors (google.com:2020). With this feature, users can explore the environment and even places around the world virtually. 45 IJDS INDONESIAN JOURNAL OF DIGITAL SOCIETY Vol.1 No.2 (September 2020) Page 44 – 52 http://journal.unas.ac.id/sosiologi-ijds Such applications are certainly familiar to young people, especially students and university students. The option to postpone or even not go home and be replaced with an application like this is certainly very effective and easy to do. Furthermore, in this study it is interesting to find out how students' perceptions and experiences of the new homecoming culture through virtual media in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. METHOD This research uses a qualitative approach with descriptive research type. Sources of data were obtained through interviews with informants or resource persons for immigrant students in Malang City who did not go home to Eid due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Data collection techniques using in-depth interviews (indepth interviews) and observation. The validity of the data used method triangulation where the researcher compared the data findings obtained using certain method (...truncated)