Work

Students on the “Web”: Social Media as an Actor in Assembling “Network Spaces” of Educational Migrants in Irkutsk

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: The article studies daily online and offline practices by trans-local (Russian) and transnational (Chinese) student migrants in Irkutsk. Drawing on the concept proposed by J. Law, distinguishing between “Euclidean space” and “Network space”, we aimed to explain how migrant students’ participation in various digital chats and groups shapes and stabilizes different networks, determining their everyday practices. We demonstrate that for Chinese students, participation in social media groups becomes the foundation for forming their “Network space”, playing a primary role in its assembly. For Russians, however, social media mainly supplement offline practices, supporting building the “Network space”. Thus, while physically present in the same locations (“Euclidean space”) daily, trans-local (Russian) and transnational (Chinese) students perceive them differently as they simultaneously exist in various “Network spaces”, including those influenced by digital resources.

Source: Etnograficheskoe obozrenie

DOI: 10.31857/s0869541524050087

Authors: Kiril LIvanov, Iuliia Koreshkova

Institution: Irkutsk State University

Language: English

Topic: Diaspora, migration, transnational identity

Subfield: Demography

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: Russian Science Foundation, Siberian Federal University