dc.contributor.author
Bucholtz, Ianis
dc.contributor.author
Sūna, Laura
dc.date.accessioned
2019-12-10T13:08:40Z
dc.date.available
2019-12-10T13:08:40Z
dc.identifier.uri
https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/26079
dc.identifier.uri
http://dx.doi.org/10.17169/refubium-25839
dc.description.abstract
This chapter analyses how ethnic transnational identities are manifested and negotiated on the social networking sites used by Latvian migrants. Although migrants as well as other people use various personal media, including Skype, chat apps such as WhatsApp and telephones, social networking sites stand out with the diversity of functions in migrant communication. This includes one-to-one exchanges, group communication and the ability to locate and connect with users who may or may not be familiar offline. We argue that social networking sites and particularly thematic groups on these sites that migrants create and join serve as forums or bulletin boards where they exchange practical information and are able to communicate with other Latvians who live nearby – and that these uses have implications for the communication of identity. The empirical data in the chapter comes from 20 semi-structured interviews with Latvian migrants who live in a variety of countries and were recruited for the study on social networking sites, as well as survey data, all of which were collected within the research project The Emigrant Communities of Latvia: National Identity, Transnational Relations and Diaspora Politics. The results demonstrate that migrant interactions on social networking sites do not necessarily lead to the homogenisation of migrants’ conception of what ‘being a Latvian’ means. The increased ability to maintain associations with diverse online and offline social circles provides a migrant with a variety of identity elements to associate with. As a result, hybrid identities may emerge. A migrant can identify with the host society yet still reject some of its characteristics – and choose Latvian alternatives instead.
en
dc.rights.uri
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subject
Communication
en
dc.subject
Latvian Migrants
en
dc.subject.ddc
300 Sozialwissenschaften::300 Sozialwissenschaften, Soziologie::300 Sozialwissenschaften
dc.title
‘I Am One of Them’
dc.title.subtitle
Exploring the Communication of Identity of Latvian Migrants on Social Networking Sites
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.booktitle
The Emigrant Communities of Latvia
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.editor
Kaša, Rita ; Mieriņa, Inta
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.originalpublishername
Springer Open
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.originalpublisherplace
Schweiz
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.pagestart
231
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.pageend
257
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.url
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-030-12092-4_11
refubium.affiliation
Geschichts- und Kulturwissenschaften
refubium.resourceType.isindependentpub
no
dcterms.accessRights.openaire
open access
dcterms.isPartOf.isbn
978-3-030-12091-7
dcterms.isPartOf.eisbn
978-3-030-12092-4