New media, social capital and transnational migration: Slovaks in the UK

• Authors: Barbara Lášticová
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

This paper investigates Slovak migrants’ use of new media to build social capital. It draws on data from a pilot study with 36 Slovaks living in the UK, and on content analysis of the main Facebook page for Czechs and Slovaks in the UK. The data suggest that Facebook is used for sharing emotions rather than to build a community and share practical information. While Facebook and Skype are used to maintain preexisting strong ties in the country of origin, face-to-face contact and mobile phones are used to maintain ties within the UK. However, social media do not seem to facilitate the formation of weak ties prior to migration, with face-to-face contact being dominant upon arrival. Transnational migration experience forms a separate dimension within the participants’ identity, independent from social capital. The data are discussed in relation to findings from previous studies about Slovak migrants in the Republic of Ireland.

Keywords

EN

new media; social capital; transnational migration; Slovakia; UK

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Human Affairs
• Year: 2014
• Volume: 24
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 406-422

Dates

published

2014-10-01

online

2014-10-02

Contributors

author

Barbara Lášticová

• Slovak Academy of Sciences

References

• [1] Bacigalupe, G., & Cámara, M. (2012). Transnational families and social technologies: Reassessing immigration psychology. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 38, 1425–1438. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2012.698211[Crossref][WoS]
• [2] Bačová, D. (2010). Etnicita a jazyk (na príklade zmiešaných slovensko-britskych rodín v Londyne) [Ethnicity and language (the case of mixed Slovak-British families in London)]. Antropowebzin, 3, 189–196. Retrieved 02/06/2013 from http://antropologie.zcu.cz/etnicita-a-jazyk-na-prikladezmiesanych-slovensko-britskych-rodin-v-londyne
• [3] Benítez, J. L. (2012). Salvadoran transnational families: ICT and communication practices in the network society. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 38, 1439–1449. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2012.698214[WoS][Crossref]
• [4] Betlehem, J. (2009). Can we make official statistics with self-selection web surveys? Component of Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 11-522-X. Statistics Canada’s International Symposium Series: Proceedings.
• [5] Búriková, Z. (2007). Motivácie au pair migrácie zo Slovenska [Motivations behind au-pair migration from Slovakia]. Slovenský národopis, 55, 442–455.
• [6] Búriková, Z., & Miller, D. (2010). Au-pair. Malden: Polity Press.
• [7] Búriková, Z. (2006). Prečo majú britské matky au pair a čo sa na tom slovenskym au pair nepáči [Why British mothers have au-pairs and what Slovak au-pairs do not like about it]. Slovenský národopis, 54, 341–357.
• [8] Deaux, K. (2006). To be an immigrant. New York: Russel Sage Foundation.
• [9] Dekker, B., & Siegel, M. (2013). Transnationalism and integration: Complements or substitutes? Retrieved from http://www.merit.unu.edu/publications/wppdf/2013/wp2013-071.pdf (26/06/2014)
• [10] Dekker, R., & Engbersen, G. (2012). How social media transform migrant networks and facilitate migration. Retrieved on 26/06/2014 from http://www.godfriedengbersen.com/wpcontent/uploads/WorkingPaperIMIDekkerEngbersen.pdf
• [11] Diminescu, D. (2008). The connected migrant: An epistemological manifesto. Social Science Information, 47, 565–579. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0539018408096447[WoS][Crossref]
• [12] Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, Ch., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook “friends:” Social capital and college students’ use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12, 1143–1168. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00367.x[Crossref]
• [13] Glick Schiller, N., Basch, L., & Blanc Szanton, C. (1992). Transnationalism: A new analytic framework for understanding migration. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1–24.
• [14] Glick Schiller, N., Bash, L., & Blanc Szanton, C. (1995). From migrant to transmigrant: Theorizing transnational migration. Anthropological Quarterly, 68, 48–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3317464[Crossref]
• [15] Granovetter, M. S. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78, 1360–1380. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/225469[Crossref]
• [16] Haythornthwaite, C. (2002). Strong, weak, and latent ties and the impact of new media. The Information Society, 18, 385–401. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01972240290108195[Crossref]
• [17] Hiller, H. H., & Franz, T. M. (2004). New ties, old ties and lost ties: The use of the internet in diaspora. New Media & Society, 6, 731–752. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/146144804044327[Crossref]
• [18] Jenčová, I. (2007a). Vzťahy v pohybe - priateľstvá v Londyne [Relationships on the move - friendships in London]. Etnologické rozpravy, 14, 9–24.
• [19] Jenčová, I. (2007b). Migrácia ako dobrodružstvo [Migration as an adventure]. Slovenský národopis, 55, 457–463.
• [20] Jenčová, I. (2008). Inštitúcie a vytváranie spoločnej komunity Slovákov a Čechov v Londyne [Institutions and community building among Slovaks and Czechs in London]. Etnologické rozpravy, 15, 25–35.
• [21] Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media. Business Horizons, 53, 59–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2009.09.003[Crossref][WoS]
• [22] Komito, L. (2011). Social media and migration: Virtual community 2.0. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 62, 1075–1086. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/asi.21517[WoS][Crossref]
• [23] Komito, L., & Bates, J. (2009). Virtually local: social media and community among Polish nationals in Dublin. Aslib Proceedings, 61(3), 232–244. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00012530910959790[Crossref][WoS]
• [24] Lampe, C., Ellison, N., & Steinfield, C. (2006). A Face(book) in the crowd: Social searching vs. social browsing. Proceedings of the 2006 20th Anniversary Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (pp. 167–170). New York: ACM Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1180875.1180901[Crossref]
• [25] Lšáticová, B., & Petrjánošová, M. (2013). Sociálne inovácie a sociálne identity: občianske iniciatívy slovenskych migrantov a migrantiek v írsku [Social innovations and social identities: Civic initiatives of Slovak migrants in Ireland]. Slovenský národopis, 61, 273–288.
• [26] Lingel, J., Naaman, M., & Boyd, D. (2014). City, self, network: Transnational migrants and online identity work. In Proc. CSCW’ 14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2531602.25311693 (28/06/2014) [Crossref]
• [27] MacDonald, J. S., & MacDonald, L. D. (1964). Chain migration ethnic neighbourhood formation and social networks. The Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly, 42, 82–97. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3348581[Crossref]
• [28] McGregor, E., & Siegel, M. (2013). Social media and migration research. UNU-MERIT Working Paper Series. Maastricht: Maastricht University, Maastricht Graduate School of Governance. Retrieved from http://migration.unu.edu/publications/working-papers/social-media-and-migration-research.html (26/06/2006)
• [29] Miller, D., & Madianou, M. (2012). Migration and new media: Transnational families and polymedia. London: Routledge.
• [30] Morales, L., & Giugni, M. (Eds.). (2011). Social capital, political participation and migration in europe: Making multicultural democracy work? London: Palgrave Macmillan.
• [31] Morawska, E. (2003). National identities of Polish (im)migrants in Berlin: Four varieties, their correlates and implications. In W. Spohn & A. Triandafyllidou (Eds.), Europeanization, national identities and migration (pp. 171–191). London: Routledge.
• [32] Nedelcu, M. (2012). Migrants’ new transnational habitus: Rethinking migration through a cosmopolitan lens in the digital age. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 38 (9), 1339–1356. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2012.698203[WoS][Crossref]
• [33] Oiarzabal, P. J. (2012). Diaspora Basques and online social networks: An analysis of users of Basque institutional diaspora groups on facebook. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 38, 1469–1485. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2012.698216[WoS][Crossref]
• [34] Petrjánošová, M. (2011). Špecifiká občianskej participácie online (a pár príkladov z webstránky pre sociálne siete Facebook) [Specific nature of civic participation online and a couple of examples from Facebook]. In K. Bartošová, M. Čerňák, P. Humpolíček, & A. Slezčáková (Eds.), Sociální procesy a osobnost 2011: člověk na cestě životem: křižovatky a mosty (pp. 238–241). Sborník příspěvků. Brno: Tribun EU.
• [35] Petrjánošová, M., & Lšáticová, B. (2010). Ako sa vytvára komunita: slovenskí migranti a migrantky v írsku [Constructing community: Slovak migrants in Ireland]. In J. Plichtová (Ed.), Občianstvo, participácia a deliberácia na Slovensku: teória a realita (pp. 537–567). Bratislava: Veda.
• [36] Putnam, R. (2007). E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and community in the twenty-first century. Scandinavian Political Studies, 30, 137–174. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9477.2007.00176.x[Crossref]
• [37] Třísková, B. (2011). Motivy migrace a strategie integrace českých a slovenských Romů žijících v britském Sheffieldu [Migration motives and integration strategies of Czech and Slovak Roma living in Sheffield, UK]. Unpublished Masters thesis. Brno: FSS Masaryk University, https://147.251.49.10/th/174343/fss_m/Posudok_Triskova.doc (Retrieved 26/06/2014)
• [38] Van den Boss, M., & Nell, L. (2006). Territorial bounds to virtual space: Transnational online and offline networks of Iranian and Turkish-Kurdish immigrants in the Netherlands. Global Networks, 6, 201–220. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-0374.2006.00141.x[Crossref]
• [39] Velšic, M. (2012). Sociálne siete na Slovensku [Social networks in Slovakia]. Bratislava: Inštitút pre verejné otázky.
• [40] Vrabec, J. (2014). Nové médiá ako nástroj budovania sociálneho kapitálu migrantov? [New media as a means of social capital building among migrants?] Unpublished Masters thesis. Bratislava: FSES Comenius University.

Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/s13374-014-0237-6