Digital Transnational Social Spaces of Romanians and Moldovans in Berlin

This study focuses on the online community of Romanian speaking mobility migrants who live or regularly return to Berlin. Engaging with theories on transnationalism and social media, this article addressed the question of how digital transnational social spaces contribute to international migration...

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Main Author: Mihaela-Violeta Vochin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Expert Projects 2023-07-01
Series:Sociologie Românească
Subjects:
Online Access:https://revistasociologieromaneasca.ro/sr/article/view/1781
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author Mihaela-Violeta Vochin
author_facet Mihaela-Violeta Vochin
author_sort Mihaela-Violeta Vochin
collection DOAJ
description This study focuses on the online community of Romanian speaking mobility migrants who live or regularly return to Berlin. Engaging with theories on transnationalism and social media, this article addressed the question of how digital transnational social spaces contribute to international migration, focusing on the integration into the host society. It is argued that social media groups of Romanian speaking migrants are community spaces which strengthen ties between members, thus facilitating international migration. Quantitative data was collected using open-sourced tools and analyzed employing descriptive statistics. Moreover, qualitative data was included stemming from the interactions with users of the observed Facebook groups. Data was gathered between 2020-2021, during Covid-19 pandemic and social distancing. It is concluded that digital transnational social spaces carry meaning to the migrant community, state institutions, social networks, and the state of research. For migrants, the existence of Facebook groups lowers the threshold of integration and allows the strengthening of social ties. Engaged institutions could rethink their communication strategy by considering a more active presence on social media, while the platforms could use digital communities as targeted audiences. Finally, the research has been enriched with a deeper perspective of not only if, but how social media impacts international migration.
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spelling doaj.art-ccc1486ece9f497aa1e2fb0936a71f5e2023-07-27T18:27:00ZengExpert ProjectsSociologie Românească1220-53892668-14552023-07-0121110.33788/sr.21.1.8Digital Transnational Social Spaces of Romanians and Moldovans in BerlinMihaela-Violeta Vochin0Freie Universität Berlin This study focuses on the online community of Romanian speaking mobility migrants who live or regularly return to Berlin. Engaging with theories on transnationalism and social media, this article addressed the question of how digital transnational social spaces contribute to international migration, focusing on the integration into the host society. It is argued that social media groups of Romanian speaking migrants are community spaces which strengthen ties between members, thus facilitating international migration. Quantitative data was collected using open-sourced tools and analyzed employing descriptive statistics. Moreover, qualitative data was included stemming from the interactions with users of the observed Facebook groups. Data was gathered between 2020-2021, during Covid-19 pandemic and social distancing. It is concluded that digital transnational social spaces carry meaning to the migrant community, state institutions, social networks, and the state of research. For migrants, the existence of Facebook groups lowers the threshold of integration and allows the strengthening of social ties. Engaged institutions could rethink their communication strategy by considering a more active presence on social media, while the platforms could use digital communities as targeted audiences. Finally, the research has been enriched with a deeper perspective of not only if, but how social media impacts international migration. https://revistasociologieromaneasca.ro/sr/article/view/1781transnational social spacedigital transnational spacesocial mediaFacebook groupsRomanian speaking migrantsGermany
spellingShingle Mihaela-Violeta Vochin
Digital Transnational Social Spaces of Romanians and Moldovans in Berlin
Sociologie Românească
transnational social space
digital transnational space
social media
Facebook groups
Romanian speaking migrants
Germany
title Digital Transnational Social Spaces of Romanians and Moldovans in Berlin
title_full Digital Transnational Social Spaces of Romanians and Moldovans in Berlin
title_fullStr Digital Transnational Social Spaces of Romanians and Moldovans in Berlin
title_full_unstemmed Digital Transnational Social Spaces of Romanians and Moldovans in Berlin
title_short Digital Transnational Social Spaces of Romanians and Moldovans in Berlin
title_sort digital transnational social spaces of romanians and moldovans in berlin
topic transnational social space
digital transnational space
social media
Facebook groups
Romanian speaking migrants
Germany
url https://revistasociologieromaneasca.ro/sr/article/view/1781
work_keys_str_mv AT mihaelavioletavochin digitaltransnationalsocialspacesofromaniansandmoldovansinberlin