KitaIndonesia: A Blog Aggregator For Indonesians Abroad [INTERVIEW]

Today Indonesia is celebrating its 66th Independence Day. In the digital world, the day is made even more special with the official launch of the KitaIndonesia.net website. There are a few blogging communities in Indonesia, but this one caters to specifically to bloggers outside the country.

This site is a blog aggregator for Indonesian bloggers living abroad. Initiated by Donny Verdian, an influental Indonesian blogger who settled in Australia, KitaIndonesia chose August 17th, 2011 at 10:10 am (Indonesian time) for the official launch. It is the same date and time as when the first Indonesian president Mr. Soekarno proclaimed Indonesian independence 66 years ago.

Donny shared more about this project with Penn Olson, so read on to find out more.

Why did you create KitaIndonesia?

The original idea was simple! I was thinking about bringing together Indonesian bloggers who live in other countries — not only for getting together but also to exchange writings and opinions online. I hoped this initial step would serve to bring together Indonesian netizens from all over the world. KitaIndonesia is made very simple because I did not want to too complicated a concept. Understandably, since this project does not involve any funding or sponsor, there are not much human resources put into it.

Why did you choose the name KitaIndonesia?

I think the name is the most interesting and ‘comfortable’ to hear, in contrast with other alternatives. KitaIndonesia is (contextually) interpreted as “We, Indonesia” or “We, the Indonesian people”.

For me, the concept of ‘nation’ is bigger than ‘country.’ Nation boundaries are wider than states. There are many Indonesians who have changed their citizenship but they remain forever Indonesians.

How many blogs are gathered on KitaIndonesia? How did you manage get everyone involved?