Refugee integration and social media: a local and experiential perspective

The refugee crisis has spurred the rapid development of creative technology and social media applications to tackle the problem of refugee integration in Europe. In this article, a qualitative study with 18 refugees from Syria, Eritrea and Afghanistan is presented in order to investigate the uses and purposes of social media associated to the different areas of refugee integration in the Netherlands. The results indicate that social media networking sites were particularly relevant for refugee participants to acquire language and cultural competences, as well as to build both bonding and bridging social capital. Another important finding concerns the role of government, host society and the agency of refugee actors in determining the way refugees experience social media. Building on these results, a theoretical model for analyzing refugee integration through social media is demonstrated

Cross-cultural perspectives on framing social reality

The current essay draws upon the problem of visibility of social reality generated by Brazilian and Spanish TV news broadcasts through the selection and production of the same news contents that represent the social space of both countries. Given this scenario, we aim both to develop a methodology that allows establishing how and in what extent social reality is framed in Brazilian and Spanish TV news programs and to identify cross-cultural dynamics of mediatization of social reality in both contexts. By developing empirical content analysis of two months of coverage of current affairs and events in four television news programs from Brazil and Spain, it was found that most of the information production process concerning political, cultural and social current affairs leads to reduction, distortion and immediacy of the facts

Digital Resilience Tactics of Syrian Refugees in the Netherlands: Social Media for Social Support, Health, and Identity

The process of adjusting to a new country may carry important stressors for refugees. In the light of neoliberal policies, refugees are expected to become resilient in a local arrival infrastructure and perform a specific subjectivity based on gratefulness, adaptability, and digital sensitivity to successfully integrate. Drawing on a qualitative, in-depth case study with Syrians living in the Netherlands, this article explores the impact of the retreat of the welfare state and unfolding digital transitions on resilience tactics of marginalized people like refugees. While recognizing the systemic violence and historic trauma many refugees have experienced, we focus on how refugees are expected to and develop ways to become resilient. Three digital resilience tactics are discussed: digital social support, digital health, and digital identities. Social support was mainly sought from family, friends, organizations, and social media platforms, whereas refugees’ engagement in meaningful digital practices aimed at fostering health promotion and identity management. Our fieldwork resurfaces paradoxes of digital resilience as described by careful emotional digital labor refugees engage in when communicating with families, the role of socio-cultural factors in shaping refugees’ ICT (information and communication technology) adoption and use for health support, and negotiation of different and conflicting identity axes online. Finally, our study provides some insights into the implementation of more effective online and offline practices in the context of social and health support by host countries

Using an Ice-skating Exergame to Foster Intercultural Interaction Between Refugees and Dutch children

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether an ice-skating exergame can stimulate intercultural social interaction between refugees and Dutch children in controlled play sessions organized at elementary schools. We conducted an exploratory qualitative study based on observations of exergame play sessions and structured interviews conducted after the play sessions. A total of 58 child

Using an Ice-skating Exergame to Foster Intercultural Interaction Between Refugees and Dutch children

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether an ice-skating exergame can stimulate intercultural social interaction between refugees and Dutch children in controlled play sessions organized at elementary schools. We conducted an exploratory qualitative study based on observations of exergame play sessions and structured interviews conducted after the play sessions. A total of 58 child