increasingly intense virtual interactions with the internet as a medium, and its impact on burnout
in tangible forms as a consequence of WFH.
1.1 Theoretical background
The government’s call for Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) forced some people in Indonesia
to avoid direct physical contact. Due to the restriction of gatherings of humans in places with the
potential to spread, some businesses allow workers to work from home, including school students.
The transfer of work activities from real space (physical) to virtual space changes the habits of
humans who interact in the arena. For example, an increase in internet traffic jumped by up to 20%.
This condition is a result of the use of virtual social interaction platforms, ranging from various
social media that are commonly used (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), to those whose interfaces are
considered to be more “formal” (Zoom, Webex, Google Meet) as an alternative workspace. The
use of the internet is increasingly felt to be a necessity; interaction through this new medium is
considered a solution to the limitation of real interaction. The community negotiates itself in two
different forms of space, both real and virtual.
Although it is often difficult to distinguish, the boundary between the two becomes vague;
virtual phenomena are, of course, real in the sense of belonging to reality, and the words must be
understood in the context (Nardi 2015). Despite having vague boundaries, the differences are seen
quite sharply through the way they interact and behave in both spaces. Some scholars perceive how
they interact in both spaces as cyberculture, a form of a culture focused on how humans create
new forms of “technosociality,” i.e., social modes of communication and being with others that are
mediated by technology, as well as “biosociality,” i.e., “A new order for the production of life, nature
and body” (Escobar et al. 1994). There are differences in the presence of new forms of technology
(in this case, the internet) that mediate human interaction in a new space/environment. Some of the
views mentioned above emphasize the presence of new spaces (in the future referred to as virtual
spaces) mediated by internet technology, forming specific ways of interacting (distinguishing them
from real interactions), to forming ways of thinking of different cultures and having a connection
with the real world and space.
The existence of interrelations and vague boundaries between real and virtual space shows that
the two impact one another. For example, the presence of alternative spaces in the virtual world
serves as a forum for opinion, including various forms of exchange in a broader definition. The
effects of this exchange have an impact on real space, as well as virtual burnout, which impacts on
real exhaustion.
The term burnout, used as a clinical term, was first proposed in 1974 by Herbert Freudenberger.
Burnout refers to the emerging psychological syndrome as a prolonged response to chronic interpersonal stressors on the job (Maslach & Leiter 2016). Burnout is vulnerable in people-oriented
professions where work contacts take place both personally and emotionally, the needs of others
take precedence over oneself, working hours are long, demands are high, and resources are limited (Maslach & Leiter 2016). Likewise, with changes in the use of technology (mobile phones
and computers) in the workplace, it can blur the boundaries between the world of work and home
(Peeters et al. 2005). Rapid changes in habit patterns related to the perception of space and time
between work and home are prone to lead to conflicting roles of related individuals. Like work–
home conflicts that are defined as a form of inter-role conflict in which the role pressures from
the work and family domains are mutually incompatible, such participation in one role makes it
difficult to participate in the other (Greenhaus & Beutell 1985).
1.2 Objective
The purpose of this study then is to: (1) document and show that burnout can occur in real space,
as a result of interactions in virtual space; (2) reflect partially, how pandemics force affected
communities to transform their habits as a part of a culture, especially a relationship between the
working and non-working life in their daily lives; and (3) the existence of other factors—when
virtual space is considered a real-world representation—makes this phenomenon so complicated.
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in tangible forms as a consequence of WFH.
1.1 Theoretical background
The government’s call for Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) forced some people in Indonesia
to avoid direct physical contact. Due to the restriction of gatherings of humans in places with the
potential to spread, some businesses allow workers to work from home, including school students.
The transfer of work activities from real space (physical) to virtual space changes the habits of
humans who interact in the arena. For example, an increase in internet traffic jumped by up to 20%.
This condition is a result of the use of virtual social interaction platforms, ranging from various
social media that are commonly used (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), to those whose interfaces are
considered to be more “formal” (Zoom, Webex, Google Meet) as an alternative workspace. The
use of the internet is increasingly felt to be a necessity; interaction through this new medium is
considered a solution to the limitation of real interaction. The community negotiates itself in two
different forms of space, both real and virtual.
Although it is often difficult to distinguish, the boundary between the two becomes vague;
virtual phenomena are, of course, real in the sense of belonging to reality, and the words must be
understood in the context (Nardi 2015). Despite having vague boundaries, the differences are seen
quite sharply through the way they interact and behave in both spaces. Some scholars perceive how
they interact in both spaces as cyberculture, a form of a culture focused on how humans create
new forms of “technosociality,” i.e., social modes of communication and being with others that are
mediated by technology, as well as “biosociality,” i.e., “A new order for the production of life, nature
and body” (Escobar et al. 1994). There are differences in the presence of new forms of technology
(in this case, the internet) that mediate human interaction in a new space/environment. Some of the
views mentioned above emphasize the presence of new spaces (in the future referred to as virtual
spaces) mediated by internet technology, forming specific ways of interacting (distinguishing them
from real interactions), to forming ways of thinking of different cultures and having a connection
with the real world and space.
The existence of interrelations and vague boundaries between real and virtual space shows that
the two impact one another. For example, the presence of alternative spaces in the virtual world
serves as a forum for opinion, including various forms of exchange in a broader definition. The
effects of this exchange have an impact on real space, as well as virtual burnout, which impacts on
real exhaustion.
The term burnout, used as a clinical term, was first proposed in 1974 by Herbert Freudenberger.
Burnout refers to the emerging psychological syndrome as a prolonged response to chronic interpersonal stressors on the job (Maslach & Leiter 2016). Burnout is vulnerable in people-oriented
professions where work contacts take place both personally and emotionally, the needs of others
take precedence over oneself, working hours are long, demands are high, and resources are limited (Maslach & Leiter 2016). Likewise, with changes in the use of technology (mobile phones
and computers) in the workplace, it can blur the boundaries between the world of work and home
(Peeters et al. 2005). Rapid changes in habit patterns related to the perception of space and time
between work and home are prone to lead to conflicting roles of related individuals. Like work–
home conflicts that are defined as a form of inter-role conflict in which the role pressures from
the work and family domains are mutually incompatible, such participation in one role makes it
difficult to participate in the other (Greenhaus & Beutell 1985).
1.2 Objective
The purpose of this study then is to: (1) document and show that burnout can occur in real space,
as a result of interactions in virtual space; (2) reflect partially, how pandemics force affected
communities to transform their habits as a part of a culture, especially a relationship between the
working and non-working life in their daily lives; and (3) the existence of other factors—when
virtual space is considered a real-world representation—makes this phenomenon so complicated.
120