The purpose of this essay was to investigate how a functional and committed online community was established. We have analyzed a Facebook group named "On Edge - a community for girls who seeks adventures" to explore how On Edge is communicating to create dedication and identification amongst its members in their online community. The study has combined theories such as social identity theory, prosumption, participatory culture and mediatization theory. We have used a multimodal analysis to analyze the administrators and the members posts on Facebook, an online survey for On Edge’s members to answer and an interview with the founder of the community, Ebba Cronqvist. The result of the multimodal analysis showed that On Edge uses text and images to create a united language within the group that leads to dedication and identification to the community. The survey showed that most of the members felt a need of a place where adventurous women could meet other women who are alike. They help each other because of the friendly atmosphere and by the meaningful exchange of thoughts and minds. We also found that there are some fundamental forces that shapes On Edge to such a well working community: the group is driven by a strong “why”, and by using a language appropriate for the target group together with images, it creates a friendly atmosphere amongst the members in the group.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has strongly impacted the global workplace. A great number of organizations which had never before allowed their employees to work from home now do so. Many co-located, traditional teams have changed their work setting to virtual, and have become virtual teams. The aim of this study was to examine how team members have perceived communication in teams after the transition from traditional to virtual teams. Individual interviews were chosen as a study method. The collected data has been analyzed with help of a thematic analysis framework. The study results have indicated that the transition has impacted communication and coordination in virtual teams. The interviewed team members have experienced communication barriers. The crucial factor indicated by the interviewed team members as influencing teamwork has been lack of physical meetings and face-to-face communication. The affected areas are socializing, information and knowledge sharing and coordination. Accordingly, the study results have confirmed that, despite the continuous improvements in virtual communication tools, there is still value in face-to-face communication. Moreover, the study has showed that productivity in virtual teams has improved, which might be a result of experienced individual and team autonomy. The interviewed team members of virtual teams have assessed their digital readiness in terms of using different digital tools and services as good, which has allowed them to perform their duties effectively. The study results have contributed to the existed body of research on virtual teams and indicated the areas of further investigations. / Utbrottet av COVID-19 pandemin har kraftigt påverkat den globala arbetsmarknaden. En stor del av organisationer som aldrig tidigare tillåtit sina anställda arbeta hemifrån tillåter det nu. Många tidigare samlokaliserade, traditionella team har fått ändra sitt arbetssätt och bli virtuella team. Studiens syfte var att undersöka hur projektmedlemmar upplevt kommunikation i team efter omställningen från traditionella till virtuella team. Individuella intervjuer har valts som metod för att genomföra studien. Insamlade material har analyserats med hjälp av tematisk analys. Resultat av denna studie har påvisat att omställningen påverkat kommunikation och koordination i virtuella team. De intervjuade projektmedlemmarna har upplevt begränsningar i kommunikationen. Den avgörande faktorn som haft inflyttande över teamarbetet har visat sig vara avsaknad av fysiska möten och face-to-face kommunikation. De områden som berörs är social sammanhållning, informationsdelning och kunskapsdelning samt koordination. Därmed har resultatet visat att trots utvecklingen av digitala verktyg, ska vikten av face-to-face kommunikation inte underskattas. Studien har dessutom påvisat att produktivitet i virtuella team ökat, vilket kan vara ett resultat av projektmedlemmarnas upplevelse av individuell and team autonomi. De intervjuade projektmedlemmarna av virtuella team har bedömt sina kunskaper inom olika digitala verktyg som goda, vilket möjliggjort ett effektivt arbete. Resultatet av denna studie har bidragit till befintlig forskning om virtuella team och har identifierat områden som behöver undersökas närmare.

Denna kandidatuppsats fokuserar på hur intern kommunikation kan användas av en arbetsgivare på en medelstor organisation samt hur medarbetarna upplever den. Studien har utgått från en kvalitativ metod och empirin har samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med medarbetare, linjechefer och chefer i ledningsfunktionen. Resultatet visar att den interna kommunikationen kan delas upp i två delar; digitala kommunikationskanaler och fysiska kommunikationskanaler. De digitala kommunikationskanalerna bidrar till att effektivt dela information samt öppnar upp möjligheten för distansarbete. Nackdelarna är minskad dialog och feedback på grund av en envägskommunikation och en minskad social interaktion. De fysiska kommunikationskanalerna bidrar till ökade sociala interaktioner som bygger och stärker relationer. Genom att ses fysiskt och kommunicera i en tvåvägskommunikation ger det möjlighet till dialog och feedback vilket kan leda till engagerade medarbetare. Nackdelarna med de fysiska mötena är att muntlig information kan glömmas bort och att de riskerar att bli tidskrävande. Det blir därför viktigt som arbetsgivare att hitta en balans mellan de olika kanalerna för att tillfredsställa och engagera sin personal på bästa sätt. Avslutningsvis visar studien en övergripande bild över upplevelserna av den interna kommunikationen. / This Bachelor´s thesis focuses on how internal communication can be used by an employer in a medium-sized organization and how the employees experience it. The study has been based on a qualitative method and the empirical evidence has been collected through semi-structured interviews with employees, line managers and managers in the management group. The result shows that the internal communication can be divided into two parts; digital communication channels and physical communications channels. The digital communication channels contributesto efficient sharing of information and gives the possibility of remote work. The disadvantages are reduced dialogue and feedback due to one-way communication and reduced social interaction. The physical communication channels contributes to increased social interactions that build and strengthen relationsships. To meetphysically and communication in a two-way communication provide the opportunity for dialogue and feedback which can lead to engaged employees. The disadvantages of physical meetings are that verbal information can be forgotten and that they risk becoming timeconsuming. It therefore becomes important as an employer to find a balance between the various channels in order to satisfy and engage the staff in the best way. Furthermore, the study shows an overall picture of the experiences of internal communication.