Communities of/for Interest: Revisiting the Role of Migrants’ Online Groups

Taulant Guma; Stephen Drinkwater; Rhys Dafydd Jones

doi:10.1177/00380385221104008

Communities of/for Interest: Revisiting the Role of Migrants’ Online Groups

Taulant Guma, Stephen Drinkwater, Rhys Dafydd Jones

Department of Geography and Earth Sciences

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1 Citation (Scopus)

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Abstract

This article offers a critical examination of the role played by migrants’ online communities. With much of scholarly analysis focusing on the new ways in which online groups enable migrants to connect, interact or socialise together in digital space, little attention has been paid to how these groups are actually formed, by whom and with what motivations. Drawing on qualitative interviews with moderators of online groups created by EU migrants living in Wales, UK, our findings reveal the diverse and sometimes ambivalent roles played by these groups, acting not only as networks of support for migrants (‘communities of interest’) but also driven by commercial motives. To capture the impact of this commercialisation and the complexity in the field, we introduce the notion of ‘communities for interest’. The article thus offers new empirical and conceptual contributions that advance our understanding of migrants’ online communities beyond the much-discussed online/offline and virtual/real dichotomies.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	516-532
Number of pages	17
Journal	Sociology
Volume	57
Issue number	3
Early online date	14 Jul 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/00380385221104008
Publication status	Published - 01 Jun 2023

Keywords

communities for interest
communities of interest
migration
network society
online communities
social media

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10.1177/00380385221104008Licence: CC BY

ArticleFinal published version, 158 KBLicence: CC BY

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title = "Communities of/for Interest: Revisiting the Role of Migrants{\textquoteright} Online Groups",

abstract = "This article offers a critical examination of the role played by migrants{\textquoteright} online communities. With much of scholarly analysis focusing on the new ways in which online groups enable migrants to connect, interact or socialise together in digital space, little attention has been paid to how these groups are actually formed, by whom and with what motivations. Drawing on qualitative interviews with moderators of online groups created by EU migrants living in Wales, UK, our findings reveal the diverse and sometimes ambivalent roles played by these groups, acting not only as networks of support for migrants ({\textquoteleft}communities of interest{\textquoteright}) but also driven by commercial motives. To capture the impact of this commercialisation and the complexity in the field, we introduce the notion of {\textquoteleft}communities for interest{\textquoteright}. The article thus offers new empirical and conceptual contributions that advance our understanding of migrants{\textquoteright} online communities beyond the much-discussed online/offline and virtual/real dichotomies.",

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author = "Taulant Guma and Stephen Drinkwater and Jones, {Rhys Dafydd}",

note = "Funding Information: The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: this work was supported by the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods – a collaborative venture between the Universities of Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff, South Wales and Swansea funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, UK under Grant ES/L009099/1. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2022.",

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N1 - Funding Information: The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: this work was supported by the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods – a collaborative venture between the Universities of Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff, South Wales and Swansea funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, UK under Grant ES/L009099/1. Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2022.

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N2 - This article offers a critical examination of the role played by migrants’ online communities. With much of scholarly analysis focusing on the new ways in which online groups enable migrants to connect, interact or socialise together in digital space, little attention has been paid to how these groups are actually formed, by whom and with what motivations. Drawing on qualitative interviews with moderators of online groups created by EU migrants living in Wales, UK, our findings reveal the diverse and sometimes ambivalent roles played by these groups, acting not only as networks of support for migrants (‘communities of interest’) but also driven by commercial motives. To capture the impact of this commercialisation and the complexity in the field, we introduce the notion of ‘communities for interest’. The article thus offers new empirical and conceptual contributions that advance our understanding of migrants’ online communities beyond the much-discussed online/offline and virtual/real dichotomies.

AB - This article offers a critical examination of the role played by migrants’ online communities. With much of scholarly analysis focusing on the new ways in which online groups enable migrants to connect, interact or socialise together in digital space, little attention has been paid to how these groups are actually formed, by whom and with what motivations. Drawing on qualitative interviews with moderators of online groups created by EU migrants living in Wales, UK, our findings reveal the diverse and sometimes ambivalent roles played by these groups, acting not only as networks of support for migrants (‘communities of interest’) but also driven by commercial motives. To capture the impact of this commercialisation and the complexity in the field, we introduce the notion of ‘communities for interest’. The article thus offers new empirical and conceptual contributions that advance our understanding of migrants’ online communities beyond the much-discussed online/offline and virtual/real dichotomies.

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Communities of/for Interest: Revisiting the Role of Migrants’ Online Groups

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Keywords

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WISERD Civil Society: Interpol (led by project 11438)

Cite this

Communities of/for Interest: Revisiting the Role of Migrants’ Online Groups

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

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Projects

WISERD Civil Society: Interpol (led by project 11438)

Cite this