‘Without it I am nothing’: The internet in the lives of older immigrants

Abstract

This article aims to explore how using the internet may facilitate coping with the challenges of immigration in later life, based on the case of older Jewish immigrants from the Former Soviet Union in Israel. For that purpose, in-depth interviews were conducted with 32 immigrants living in southern Israel. Results indicated that internet usages by the study participants were: (1) Managing health; (2) Nurturing professional interests; (3) Maintaining and extending social networks; (4) Appreciating the past; and (5) Enjoying leisure. Each usage seemed to preserve and even strengthen the participants’ self-worth and improve their quality of life. These findings suggest that older immigrants who use the internet practice, in fact, strategies of successful ageing, which help them to cope not only with the challenges associated with ageing, but also with the tremendous difficulties and losses posed by immigration.

Understanding the Motives for Joining Ethnic Online Communities: A Study of Turks in Norway

“…(McLaine, 2003) According to literature, immigrants have a natural inclination to communicate with their ethnic peers, and ethnic communication activities are helpful in their cultural adaptation process (Ke and Chang, 2009) and media serves as a very powerful tool for these communication activities. Media has a crucial role in immigrants' lives in keeping with the diversity and dynamics of the ongoing adjustment to the host culture and preservation of their original cultural identity (Khvorostianov et al, 2011) Highlighting the relationship between diaspora and media, Dayan (1999) describes diaspora as the migration and displacement of groups in their dislocation from the homeland, which maintain continuous links to the country of origin. Communities in diaspora, increasingly form micro-public spheres, interacting with macro-public sphere and providing spaces for minority groups to produce mediated conceptions of the self and the community.…”

“…Online communities provides opportunities for immigrants to connect with each other, breaking the geographical restrictions. They offer a space in which immigrant communities, mostly lacking economic or political power, are able to develop efficient channels for spreading information that is vital to their survival in the new society (Khvorostianov et al, 2011). The immigrants can now transcend the barriers of space and time to participate in conversations to discover a new sense of fellowship (Ebihara, 1996).…”

“…To sum up, a growing body of literature (Arnold and Schneider, 2007;Beom, 2003;Dekker et al, 2015;De Leeuw and Rydin, 2007;Diamandaki, 2003;Elias and Lemis, 2009;Franz and Götzenbrucker, 2012;Ke and Chang, 2009;Khvorostianov et al 2011;Lee, 2012;McKenna et al, 2000;McLaine, 2003;Mitra, 1997) have focused on how immigrants utilize online communities to communicate, interact, maintain their identity. These studies on ethnic communities online have focused on the implications of social media for inter or/and intra-ethnic contact.…”

Definir y defender la identidad en un debate político: El caso de los blogueros emigrantes rusos

“…Migrantes y la web 2.0 La importancia de la comunicación mediada por ordenador para la población especialmente vulnerable -como adolescentes, enfermos de cáncer, personas mayores o inmigradas-ha sido puesta de manifiesto en numerosos estudios (Helsper, 2008;Elias & Lemish, 2009;Khvorostianov, Elias & Nimrod, 2011;Mesch, 2012;Page, 2012).…”

Online Identities: National and Cultural Expression Online, an Australian Perspective

“…583-599). For migrants in particular, the importance of the virtual community has been highlighted where the Internet provides a method of communication and connection with other members of the diaspora allowing migrants to share information about the new society and retain cultural and social bonds from the country of origin (Diamandaki, 2003;Khvorostianov et al, 2011;Yuen, 2007, Xie, 2005.…”