Online communities as points of observation of the transnational migrant career: a case study on Italian immigrants in Toronto

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to explore the significance that social media plays in the lives of transnational migrants. Building on data collected during a six-month online/offline ethnography conducted among the members of a Facebook group for Italian migrants in Toronto, it is argued here that diasporic online communities provide a privileged location to capture the complex process of identity transformation undergone by migrants. Data suggests that research into online communities allows for a dynamic and adaptive understanding of the migratory experience capable of recognising the lives of migrants not just as the results of single events, but as trajectories that could help reach a better understanding of the evolution of life courses, as well as changes in social status.

KEYWORDS:

• Online communities
• migration
• social media
• identity
• ethnography
• belonging

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Moroccan is here used in a derogatory way that in the past was often used to point out Italian immigrants from Southern Italy and from countries of the Mediterranean basin.