InstaMigrants: Global Ties and Mundane Publics of Russian-Speaking Bloggers with Migration Background

Anna Smoliarova*, Svetlana S. Bodrunova

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

Russian-speaking diaspora has spread across the world during the last century and plays a significant role in cultural and political life of the host countries. But its virtual presence remains heavily understudied; it is only Russian-speaking news websites that have received some scholarly attention. This study aims at estimating the globality of mass self-communication of Russian emigrants on Instagram in the context of virtual diaspora studies as a new form of imagined communities. Instagram communication of emigrants illustrates how the nature of mass self-communication influences the nature of ties between diaspora members. We confirm the global scale of ties that are developed by the Russian-speaking “InstaMigrants” by network analysis. We also show that such seemingly apolitical publics possess a potential for politicization of everyday life and migration experience in unconventional ways.

Original languageEnglish
JournalSocial Media and Society
Volume7
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 2021
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.

Keywords

  • critical public
  • global public
  • Instagram
  • migration
  • networked public
  • Russia

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'InstaMigrants: Global Ties and Mundane Publics of Russian-Speaking Bloggers with Migration Background'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this