We Are All in the Same Boat: How Online Communities Facilitate the Process of Migration

Although New Zealand's economy is only slowly improving from a long-term recessionary period, the increasing need for skilled workers will soon be a key issue to both business and policymakers. Given the fact that New Zealand has had a net migration loss, meaning more people are leaving than arriving, in the year to June 2012 (Labour & Immigration Research Centre, 2012), there is a growing demand to attract workers to replace those who have left. Fortunately, skilled migrants want to come here for the lifestyle, climate and safety (Department of Labour, 2009b; Statistics New Zealand, 2008; Tabor & Milfont, 2011). British migrants have been particularly drawn to what New Zealand has to offer, as the United Kingdom has long been the top source country for New Zealand skilled migrants (Department of Labour, 2009a; Labour & Immigration Research Centre, 2011; Merwood, 2007; Shorland, 2006). Given the vast distance, these migrants are likely to turn to the internet as an alternative information source when they are unable to easily scout out New Zealand for themselves. Moreover, the process of leaving is not an easy one for people who intend to remain permanently, with logistical and emotional stresses such as the loosening of ties to extended family members, friends and communities (Adelman, 1988; Tabor & Milfont, in press). There is no gathering space in the physical world for those who are in the process of migrating, except the international departures lounge, so where can those in the process of leaving for New Zealand find a community to support them through this stressful period? Internet communities have been found to aid migrants as a tool for informational social support in the pre-departure period (Tabor & Milfont, 2011), during settlement in their new societies (Elias & Lemish, 2009) as well as maintaining connections between cultural groups that are widely scattered around the globe (Georgiou, 2006). Even so, researchers have not tackled the question of how migration forums function as communities. Theoretically, shared emotional connection is a main element in sense of community (McMillan & Chavis, 1986), and though the migrants who frequent online forums may never meet in person, they are sharing an important life experience. A tangible function of any community is the fulfillment of needs (McMillan & Chavis, 1986) and forums seem to assist their members primarily through the sharing of information (Tabor & Milfont, in press). Beneath this surface layer of interaction, indirect emotional benefits may be present even in discussions related to practical issues (Skinner, 2008). The internet has been called "a medium of selective social interaction and symbolic belonging" (Castells, 2001, p. 37). Though Reich (2010) found that Facebook and MySpace were characterised by networked individualism rather than community, smaller and more focused social networking sites (SNS) may be able to foster more typical community behaviour. For example, Obst and Stafurik (2010) found that people living with disabilities gained a sense of community from participating in online interaction and that this was associated with increased wellbeing. In a related study, Fayard and DeSanctis (2009) found that members of a small but active forum formed a unique culture and sense of "we-ness" with each other through their virtual relationship. Though researchers have looked at internet forums as supporting people who are experiencing migration, research has not examined how this "we-ness" may influence people who are in the process of migrating. Sense of virtual communities, as defined by Koh and Kim (2003), entails membership, influence and immersion as key dimensions. They defined membership as "feelings of belonging in their virtual community" (p. 81). Influence is the sense of having an impact within their community. Immersion is based on the concept of flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990), while interacting with the community. …