Online Communities

We are all in the same boat: How online communities facilitate the process of migration Aidan S. Tabor, Victoria University of Wellington Taciano L. Milfont, Victoria University of Wellington

Previous research has indicated that immigrants gain support, primarily Theoretically, shared emotional though sharing information, from participation in online forums. This study connection is a main element in sense of examined how migration forums function as communities to facilitate the community (McMillan & Chavis, 1986), transition to the destination country. An inductive thematic analysis was and though the migrants who frequent conducted on a 1-month cross-section of the posts made to 3 forums for online forums may never meet in person, migrants to New Zealand. Overall, members of the online communities they are sharing an important life encouraged each other through the uncertainties and stresses of international experience. A tangible function of any migration, including offering and receiving emotional and tangible support. community is the fulfillment of needs Results also demonstrated that members behaved in altruistic ways to (McMillan & Chavis, 1986) and forums benefit their community as a whole. Protocols of thankfulness and sharing seem to assist their members primarily achievements assisted in the development of a sense of “we-ness” for the through the sharing of information group. Notably, participation in the community fostered a normalization of (Tabor & Milfont, in press). Beneath risk, thus lowering the barrier to international migration. Overall the shared this surface layer of interaction, indirect experience made the process of migration easier for forum members. Further emotional benefits may be present even study into how forums create their own cultures, which shape participants in discussions related to practical issues expectations and experience are needed. (Skinner, 2008). The internet has been called “a lthough New Zealand’s economy scout out New Zealand for themselves. medium of selective social interaction Ais only slowly improving from Moreover, the process of leaving is not and symbolic belonging” (Castells, a long-term recessionary period, the an easy one for people who intend to 2001, p. 37). Though Reich (2010) increasing need for skilled workers will remain permanently, with logistical and found that Facebook and MySpace soon be a key issue to both business and emotional stresses such as the loosening were characterised by networked policymakers. Given the fact that New of ties to extended family members, individualism rather than community, Zealand has had a net migration loss, friends and communities (Adelman, smaller and more focused social meaning more people are leaving than 1988; Tabor & Milfont, in press). networking sites (SNS) may be able arriving, in the year to June 2012 (Labour There is no gathering space in the to foster more typical community & Immigration Research Centre, 2012), physical world for those who are in behaviour. For example, Obst and there is a growing demand to attract the process of migrating, except the Stafurik (2010) found that people workers to replace those who have left. international departures lounge, so living with disabilities gained a sense of Fortunately, skilled migrants want to where can those in the process of leaving community from participating in online come here for the lifestyle, climate and for New Zealand find a community interaction and that this was associated safety (Department of Labour, 2009b; to support them through this stressful with increased wellbeing. In a related Statistics New Zealand, 2008; Tabor period? Internet communities have study, Fayard and DeSanctis (2009) & Milfont, 2011). British migrants been found to aid migrants as a tool found that members of a small but active have been particularly drawn to what for informational social support in the forum formed a unique culture and sense New Zealand has to offer, as the pre-departure period (Tabor & Milfont, of “we-ness” with each other through United Kingdom has long been the top 2011), during settlement in their new their virtual relationship. Though source country for New Zealand skilled societies (Elias & Lemish, 2009) as well researchers have looked at internet migrants (Department of Labour, 2009a; as maintaining connections between forums as supporting people who are Labour & Immigration Research Centre, cultural groups that are widely scattered experiencing migration, research has 2011; Merwood, 2007; Shorland, around the globe (Georgiou, 2006). not examined how this “we-ness” may 2006). Given the vast distance, these Even so, researchers have not tackled influence people who are in the process migrants are likely to turn to the the question of how migration forums of migrating. internet as an alternative information function as communities. Sense of virtual communities, source when they are unable to easily

New Zealand Journal of Psychology Vol. 42, No. 1, 2013 • 31 • Aidan S. Tabor and Taciano L. Milfont as defined by Koh and Kim (2003), viewers at any given time. All forums as well as the latent subthemes: ‘like entails membership, influence and were primarily, but not exclusively, others’ and normalisation of risk. immersion as key dimensions. They frequented by British migrants. Semantic subthemes defined membership as “feelings of Procedure belonging in their virtual community” Altruism. Among forum members, (p. 81). Influence is the sense of having The qualitative corpus consisted there is a desire to share information an impact within their community. of publicly viewable posts to the three based on one’s own experiences and Immersion is based on the concept of forums over a 30-day cross-sectional research. Many times information flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990), while time frame in October/November 2008. is offered as the result of a specific interacting with the community. Koh Any thread that had a final posting in request, and these helping behaviours and Kim also highlighted the important the date range was analysed, thus some were very common. Some were aimed role of off-line activities between posts were included in the analysis that at helping others avoid bad decisions, members in fostering a strong sense of were older than the specified date range. such as this post: “At least you guys who are yet to buy [a house] here can community. The extent to which these Data Analysis are important in migration forums learn from my mistake!” Beyond these Using the coding techniques has not been explored previously. simple responses to queries, advice detailed by Braun and Clarke (2006), Because forums have members who are is sometimes offered even when not data extracts were meaningfully coded considering migration, as well as in the specifically requested. For example: portions of posts of a word or more. process of leaving and already in the “The forum helped me in the past - so Coded extracts were selected manually destination country, we were interested time for a little pay back.” These were from the corpus, however Nvivo 8 was in what goes on in migration forums altruistic behaviours where group used to track and report the codes. An and how they affected the members. members posted to proactively provide initial round of open coding yielded Aside from the information they acquire tips and information for others to learn 1,898 data extracts in 40 codes. Codes online, do they gain further benefits? from their experiences. There was a were then combined to make 5 themes: Our main research question was: how feeling of needing to reciprocate for help Precontemplation, Contemplation, does participation in a migration forum given to the member, but the obligation Action, Acculturation and Belonging. facilitate the process of migration? appeared to be to the level of the group Themes were reviewed for internal as a whole, not to individual members homogeneity and external heterogeneity. Methods who might have been particularly The first four themes were reported in helpful in the past. Since the advice is As described in detail in Tabor & Tabor and Milfont (2011); the belonging often coming from members who are Milfont (2011), following approval by theme was excluded from that study further along in the move process there the Human Ethics Committee, a thematic for lack of relevance to the research may be no way to reciprocate, so instead analysis was undertaken to qualitatively question. Belonging, which comprised there is an urge to “pay it forward” by explore the posts to online forums made 5% of the total corpus is related to the helping others instead. by migrants before, during or after experience of participating in an online Thankfulness. Demonstrating migration to New Zealand. Data items migration forum and is relevant to the appreciation was a part of the normal were open coded initially, followed by present study. The belonging theme language of the forum, such as when closed coding, both performed by a was further analysed looking into both a specific question was asked the single rater with substantial knowledge the semantic and latent meanings of poster was expected to thank those of both the language of the forums the posts. and the migration process from more who replied. Moreover, members Ethical issues with online data often spontaneously posted about how than 4 years of participant observer collection from publicly available experience in a migration forum as well thankful they were for the guidance sources include the size of the forum and support provided by the forum in as the lived experience of migration (larger forums are places where people to New Zealand. This study took a general. One person posted: “I'd like do not expect their communication to be to also take this opportunity to thank phenomenological approach to the private), privacy measures (quotations migration forums as communities. everyone who has contributed to this in this manuscript are not listed with invaluable forum!!” names of sources, nor are the forums Sample Breakthrough. The virtual world named), sense of being watched (most Three English-language forums does not exist in isolation of the real acute for patients suffering disease) were selected for inclusion in the world. The forums contained evidence (Eysenbach & Till, 2001). study. The forums had 3,000, 7,000 that members used the internet to gain and 120,000 registered members friendships that continued offline, respectively, though the largest forum thus "breaking through" the barrier also contained boards for migrants to Results that divides the internet from the real destinations other than New Zealand. The belonging theme was composed world. In one example of breakthrough, Only those sections of the forum that of subthemes on both the semantic and a poster had “some excellent forum related to New Zealand as a destination latent levels. These included the semantic members who checked the area out were included in the corpus. The most subthemes: altruism, shared celebration, and took pictures” to help them decide active forum typically had 100 or more thankfulness, breakthrough, and cohorts, where to live in a new town. Certainly

• 32 • New Zealand Journal of Psychology Vol. 42, No. 1, 2013 Online Communities this type of assistance was not the it`s these kind of posts that make me breakthrough, shared celebration and norm, but it was mentioned regularly as want to go soooooo much.” Reading cohorts) and latent subthemes (like forum members needed help and others the forum posts provided a constant others, normalisation of risk) a complex who were geographically convenient reminder that success was ahead and picture emerges as to how participation assisted. Another member posted: the struggle was worth it. One woman in a migration forum facilitates the “I've been out with a couple of forum posted: “sounds like your settling in process of emigration. Overall, forums members a few times (thanks!) and I well - i keep thinking that will be me function as communities and they even ran into another forum member at soon!!!” Through the referencing of are able to influence their members’ a party last night (it's a small world!).” earlier threads, even the members who experiences, such as the perception of Shared celebration. At a time in were no longer actively participating risk, as well as inspiring and bringing the migrant’s life when few face-to- were still having their stories shared. together people who would otherwise face friends or family members would There were certainly a variety be strangers. Though no one claimed to celebrate the small successes that make of professions (from plumbers to have moved to New Zealand because of up the process of leaving, the forums IT professionals) and backgrounds a forum, many participants emphasised are filled with members who are happy represented on the forums, and despite how much they relied on the information to acknowledge the importance of this there was recognition of common provided to make their decisions. They these accomplishments. In response to purpose that brought together people were aware of the sense of “we-ness” a submitted application, approval, job who would likely never interact and this seemed to increase their desire offer, arrival in New Zealand, members otherwise. In the venue of the forums, to participate, as was demonstrated regularly posted dancing banana icons, the “sameness” was keyed into rather in the altruistic behaviour of sharing good lucks, and congratulations. Posts than the differences. As one member information. Altruistic behaviours such as “go for it!” provided reassurance posted, “I can't tell anyone about our have also been observed in other when few real-world contacts could be plans. It's as if we're living two parallel online communities, such as Wikipedia encouraging. lives at the moment, but I'm sure there (Baytiyeh & Pfaffman, 2010). Altruistic behaviour may also relate to the concept Cohorts. Due to the active nature of are lots of forumites out there who are of influence (Koh & Kim, 2003; the larger forums, there were frequently having to do exactly the same.” McMillan & Chavis, 1986), in that groups of migrants who were going Normalisation of risk. An effect of frequent posting is a way to have voice through the process at nearly the same having so many members posting about in the group. time. In the application stage, people their migration experiences fostered a submitted paperwork and met deadlines perception among forum members that Further, McKenna, Green and and then (hopefully) were approved at moving to New Zealand was a perfectly Gleason (2002) found that people who the same time as other forum members. normal thing to do. Objectively, leaving express their true selves online are Often cohorts would arrive in New an established home with family, friends more likely to form close relationships Zealand at roughly the same time. and job for an unknown country across with those they virtually interact with, “Hope its been as good for others who the globe where one does not have a and that many of these relationships set off the same time as us?” one posted. job waiting and there is no guarantee of continue offline. Goodings, Locke and Another observed: “there were a few of happiness is a highly risky endeavour. Brown (2007) also focused on how us that seemed to arrive between March/ Conversely, the forums have thousands identities are negotiated among users April time and it is lovely to read how of members and the most active forums of online communities like MySpace, you are all getting on and adapting.” have posts being made throughout the and the present study similarly found This shared experience is only possible day about successful applications and that there is a development of a migrant with the advent of large active migration arrivals in New Zealand. One member identity online, though it is often kept forums. encouraged others with the post: “Don't hidden from those real world social stress, it will all work out. We did pretty contacts who are not aware of the Latent subthemes much exactly what you're doing.” migration plans. Migrants who may be Like Others. Though on the semantic Forum members would often post afraid to share their plans for departure level cohorts of migrants gained support about concerns that they had, as well with relatives and friends are revealing from going through the process of as fears. But responses would focus on their truest self to the online forum, a migration at the same time, there was the fact that so many others were doing place where they feel safe enough to a much larger impact of having many the same thing. Seeing others take the be able to post about their hopes and like others who were further along in plunge literally inspired the same level fears. For these expressions, the online the process of migration. One poster of commitment: “Following [forum community accepts them, at a time when said: “[forum member name] and I are member’s name] success with his close others in the offline world are less in the same boat as you.” The sense application I decided to throw caution supportive. In another study, extended of shared experience was a powerful to the wind and apply online today!” family members being left behind were motivator to continue involvement perceived as being less supportive with the forum (and by extension the Discussion following migrants informing them of process of migration). One member the planned departure (Tabor & Milfont, Through both the semantic addressed the issue with this comment: in press). Perhaps to compensate for this, subthemes (altruism, thankfulness, “great post [forum member name],

New Zealand Journal of Psychology Vol. 42, No. 1, 2013 • 33 • Aidan S. Tabor and Taciano L. Milfont forum members sometimes developed their less stressful, less crowded lives migrant forum (Skinner, 2008; Tabor relationships online that continued reinforces the dreams of those deciding & Milfont, 2011; Wright, 2000; Ye, in the non-virtual world, much as whether or not to take the risk. The New 2006), but collectively more than McKenna, Green and Gleason’s internet Zealand government could not pay for information is being exchanged. As users had brought online friendships better advertising than the real people communities develop, their rituals and in to their real lives. Particularly as posting the message “life is good here, systems influence the users and create members moved from around the it’s all worth it.” virtual spaces that participants can globe to the few cities within New Increasingly, it seems that online express another part of themselves. Zealand, the breakthrough of internet communities create their own cultures. The online interactions fostered a relationships to real-world relationships This may be accomplished through sense of community and a feeling of was a component of the forums. This the development of a set of cultural belonging that facilitated the migration finding lends further support to Koh norms and shared values. Much as process. The forum members frequently and Kim’s (2003) concept that off- Ward (2010) described new players referred to the process of migration line relationships compliment online joining multiplayer online games as as being a roller coaster, with many community friendships. an acculturation experience, the new moments of elation as well as fears Another way that migration members of the migration forums and disappointments. The sharing forums influence their members was were becoming a part of an online of the process with others who were that the forums themselves create a community that exists as its own culture. either going through it at the same culture where there was pressure to see As American businessmen greet each time, or had already been through migration risk as acceptable. To sell your other with a handshake and Japanese it, tangibly changed the experience house, rehome your pets, leave your businessmen greet each other with a from something isolating to a socially stable job, family and friends to move bow, these online communities had supported experience. across the world to an unknown country rituals of introduction (a first post should Implications from this study include entails great risk. Having large numbers include details on the new member’s the need to support and encourage the of people taking the plunge and moving situation and location). Behaviours use of online forums for those who to New Zealand created a normalisation observed on the migration forums are in the process of migration. Given of that risk. This normalisation of risk like altruism, shared celebration and the benefits to New Zealand of skilled is likely to occur in group settings, thankfulness were similar to findings migrants (Ho, 2001; Mare & Stillman, such as skydiving clubs (Celsi, Rose, by Fayard and DeSanctis (2009) that 2009; Nana & Williams, 1999; Ward, & Leigh, 1993). Members are socialised forum members performed rituals Tabor & Leong, forthcoming), any into greater acceptance of risk through to manage relationships within their instrument that attracts such migration exposure to group norms and repeated community. The migration forums also ought to be supported by government experiences with the group (Powell, had cultural expectations of thanking policy. Further research is needed into 2007). What may appear to an outsider that worked to maintain relationships how online communities can shape the as irrational behaviour becomes normal and smooth social interactions. expectations and behaviours of their to the group members. This type of Enthusiastic celebrations were frequent, members. barrier reduction to an international as indicated by an animated banana icon move may be an important tipping in a post highlighting another member’s Acknowledgements point in a potential migrant’s decision achievement. Conversely, members A Victoria University of Wellington to migrate. may be scolded by others in the group Faculty Strategic Research Grant In the context of migration, when expectations are broken, thereby supported this work. like others are those who share an reinforcing cultural norms. interest in migrating to New Zealand, Further, Fayard and DeSanctis regardless of their background or (2009) noted the socially constructed References nationality. 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