NETWORKED DIASPORAS: Constructing Identity and Community on Social Networking Sites - Softcover

Goswami, Surabhi

Softcover

ISBN 10: 3639337352 ISBN 13: 9783639337358

Publisher: VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, 2011

Synopsis

Social Networking Sites (SNS) have emerged as popular online platforms for people to make ?Friends? online, by not only mapping one's offline connections online but also creating connections with new people based on similarity of interest. Simultaneously, globalization has led to increasing migration resulting in the creation of the diaspora, who find themselves away from the familiar spaces and people of their homeland and are encouraged to look for new ways to create communities. In this context, the presence of numerous diasporic groups on social media platforms like Orkut and Facebook indicate their growing popularity with the diaspora. This book offers a virtual ethnography of the Indians in London (IIL) community on Orkut, exploring the significance of such online communities for diasporic individuals and examines their online practices. Using qualitative methods, the book examines if these online congregations of diasporic Indians can indeed be correctly understood as ?communities? and if SNS emerge as an alternative platform for diasporic members to connect with others who share similar circumstances and aspirations.

About this title

About the Author

Born in New Delhi, India. She was awarded the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship by the European Commission for an M.A. in Media, Communication and Cultural Studies from Roskilde University and Institute of Education, University of London. She has a B.A. (Hons) Economics from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University. She currently resides in Denmark.

Edition details

• Publisher: VDM Verlag Dr. Müller
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3639337352
• ISBN 13: 9783639337358
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 104