Connectedness: support to communities in diaspora via ict

ABSTRACT

The continuous migratory flows from Mexico to the US have yielded the creation of transnational communities. Communication is essential for these people to keep their community awareness high. Even though recent advances on ICT have enabled people to be in touch with remote family or friends, community context obtained by migrants is arguably partial. My dissertation will focus on an exploratory study of different communication channels used by migrants to communicate to and from their community of origin. The contributions of my work will provide an understanding of the nature of community connectedness of migrants as well as the information elements involved on increasing the sense of connection itself. This knowledge might be used for the better design of communication technologies.

REFERENCES

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• 2: Castles, S. and Miller, M.J., The Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World, Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.
• 3: CONAPO, Population Projections for Mexico 2000--2050, http://www.conapo.gob.mx/00cifras/5.htm (2006).
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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.m Miscellaneous

General Terms:
Human Factors

Keywords:
awareness, communities in diaspora, connectedness, homesickness, migration, transnational communities