Facebook as a Platform for an Imagined Diasporic Community

Authors

  • Paula Ray Aspire2 International

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11157/medianz-vol16iss1id198

Abstract

Overcoming geographically determined territorial boundaries, Facebook as a communication platform offers an extension of Benedict Anderson’s concept of the ‘imagined community’ (2006, xi), particularly in the form of groups formed around diasporic communities. These Facebook groups encourage civic engagement and are bound together by the use of a distinctive ‘cyber-language’ and set of expressions that contribute to a sense of shared identity. In this paper, I look at the ‘cyber-dialogues’ of three south Asian diasporic cultures in New Zealand, namely Indian, Malaysian and Filipino, to identify the most popular civic issues raised on this platform by each of them.

Author Biography

Paula Ray, Aspire2 International

Senior Lecturer and Research Manager

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Published

2017-11-24

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 1 (2016): Digital Communities

Section

Articles

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