Examining How Newcomer Women to Canada Use Social Media for Social Support

Abstract

<jats:p>Background This study utilized an exploratory sequential mixed-method research design to examine how newcomer women in Canada use social media for support to enhance their mental well-being.Analysis The qualitative findings revealed that social media helped these newcomer women both before and after their arrival in Canada. The quantitative results showed that newcomer women mostly use social media for receiving information, followed by esteem support, networking, and emotional support.Conclusion and implications The effectiveness of social media was dependent on the participants’ socioeconomic and migration status. Social media were evidently useful for resisting and coping with stress and contributed to online community connectedness. However, using social media was a source of concern for refugee women due to personal safety, immigration proceedings, and customs. Contexte Cette étude recourt à une conception séquentielle exploratoire fondée sur une méthode mixte de recherche afin d’examiner comment les nouvelles immigrantes au Canada utilisent les médias sociaux pour ménager leur santé mentale.Analyse Les données qualitatives de cette étude montrent que les médias sociaux ont aidé ces femmes immigrantes pendant et après leur arrivée au Canada. Les données quantitatives montrent que les nouvelles immigrantes utilisent les médias sociaux d’abord pour recevoir de l’information et ensuite pour maintenir leur estime de soi, faire du réseautage et trouver des appuis émotionnels.Conclusion et implications Selon l’étude, l’efficacité des médias sociaux dépend du statut socioéconomique et migratoire des participantes. Il est clair d’autre part que les médias sociaux sont utiles pour résister au stress ainsi que pour le gérer, et qu’ils contribuent à entretenir des rapports avec la communauté en ligne. En même temps, les médias sociaux peuvent être une source de soucis pour les réfugiées par rapport à leurs traditions, au processus d’immigration et au besoin de sécurité personnelle.</jats:p>

Social Support and Mental Well-Being of Newcomer Women and Children Living in Canada: A Scoping Review

“…We found only one study that explored the use of social media for newcomer women [39]. There was a significant positive association reported between the use of Facebook and Twitter platforms for emotional support.…”

“…Of the fourteen studies included in this review, the types of studies varied considerably, representing a diverse range of research methodologies. These included pilot studies [36,37], an exploratory sequential mixed-methods study [39], a scoping review [33], a case report [40], qualitative studies [29][30][31][32]34,36], a literature review [28], a case series [38], and a systematic review [35]. When considering the sample sizes of the studies, it was observed that 2 studies had fewer than 9 participants [36,40], 3 studies had a sample size ranging from 10 to 29 participants [30,31,39], and 4 studies had a larger sample size of more than 30 participants [17,29,34,37].…”

“…For one study, specific participant data were not available [32]. Four studies were either reviews or case series [28,33,35,38] Regarding the demographics of the participants, eight studies primarily focused on women [17,31,34,[36][37][38][39][40], five studies specifically included children [28][29][30]32,33], and one study involved both youths and women [35].…”

“…However, some participants reported fear of cyber harassment and bullying, especially in regard to their religion. They believed that social media provided a space for xenophobia and avoided political content and debates to protect themselves from distress and harm [39].…”

Translating the nation through the sustainable, liveable city: The role of social media intermediaries in immigrant integration in Copenhagen

“… 2. Although there is evidence from, for example, Canada that non-Western migrants likewise draw on social media for such support (Zaher, 2020). …”