Role of Social Media and Computing in Organizations Aiding Asylum Seekers and Undocumented Migrants in the United States
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Role of Social Media and Computing in Organizations Aiding Asylum Seekers and Undocumented Migrants in the United States Deepika Rama Subramanian Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Computer Science and Applications Tanushree Mitra, Chair Andrey Esakia Rebecca Hester July 29, 2020 Blacksburg, Virginia Keywords: Social Media, Fundraising, Narrative Empathy, Storytelling, Non-Profit Organizations, Grassroots Organizations, Asylum-Seekers, Migrants, Immigrants Copyright 2020, Deepika Rama Subramanian Role of Social Media and Computing in Organizations Aiding Asy- lum Seekers and Undocumented Migrants in the United States Deepika Rama Subramanian (ABSTRACT) Every year, an increasing number of displaced people arrive at the United States of Amer- ica’s border to request asylum. Several groups are working to help migrants by providing them with essential items and services, housing, and legal advice. Drawing on ethnographic findings, this work presents a situated perspective of how citizen responders utilize techno- logical systems to provide relief to those affected by the immigration crisis. Often, these citizens with common goals come together to form organizations. This study investigates how social media and technology support on-the-ground work, advocacy work, care-work, and invisible work of these organizations. Further, I highlight how technological systems fail organizations and how the emergence of care-work replaced these systems. Finally, I make design recommendations to social media and technological systems’ design to boost the efficacy of collective crisis response by citizens. Role of Social Media and Computing in Organizations Aiding Asy- lum Seekers and Undocumented Migrants in the United States Deepika Rama Subramanian (GENERAL AUDIENCE ABSTRACT) Every year, an increasing number of displaced people arrive at the United States of Amer- ica’s border to request asylum. Several groups are working to help migrants by providing them with essential items and services, housing, and legal advice. Drawing on ethnographic findings, this work presents a situated perspective of how citizen responders utilize techno- logical systems to provide relief to those affected by the immigration crisis. Often, these citizens with common goals come together to form organizations. This study investigates how social media and technology support on-the-ground work, advocacy work, care-work, and invisible work of these organizations. Further, I highlight how technological systems fail organizations and how the emergence of care-work replaced these systems. Finally, I make design recommendations to social media and technological systems’ design to boost the efficacy of collective crisis response by citizens. Dedication To my late grandfather, K.Ganesan, for the progressive, compassionate man he was. He believed that every human being was entitled to a roof over their head and bread on their plate. I am grateful to have been influenced by his thoughts and beliefs. & To my parents, Ravi and Kalyani, for their unconditional love and support. iv Acknowledgments This work is a product of a lot of help and support. First, I would like to thank my advisor Dr. Tanushree Mitra for her motivation and encouragement. It was a privilege to work under her guidance over the last two years. I would also like to thank Dr. Rebecca Hester and Dr. Andrey Esakia for taking time off their busy schedules and serving on my committee. Thank you both for your incisive questions. Dr. Hester, thank you very much for your timely help. I would also thank the Social Computing group at Virginia Tech for their guidance, encouragement and sage advice. I also want to thank my family for their continuous support through my education and career. My grandmother, A. Visalakshi, a feminist in her time, was one of the first people to push me to get my Masters’ degree. My parents, Ravi and Kalyani, have been one of my biggest strengths in my life. I should thank my brother, K7, for always knowing what to say when I am upset about my academics, “Akka, I failed in Arabic. Why are you upset about losing a few points in Math? Will you sign my report card?” Finally, I must acknowledge my extended family - Suri, Laxmi, Shankar, Supriya, Ganga, Ponni, Raju and Shuba. Wherever I go, I feel your love and support. I would be remiss not to mention my friend, Deepthi Peri, whose enthusiasm, encouragement and support drove me over the past two years. Deepthi, thank you for your patience. I am grateful for your friendship. I would also like to thank Vasu Sharma for spending many hours on the phone, making me laugh and helping me take my mind off of work. v Contents List of Figures ix List of Tables xi 1 Introduction 1 1.1 A History of Seeking Asylum & Undocumented Migrants in the United States 3 1.2 Policies affecting the Immigration Crisis in the US ............... 4 1.2.1 Metering and Asylum Turn-backs .................... 4 1.2.2 Migrant Protection Protocol ....................... 4 1.2.3 Zero Tolerance Immigration Enforcement Policy ............ 4 1.2.4 Asylum Transit Ban ........................... 5 1.3 Glossary ...................................... 5 2 Review of Literature 7 2.1 Tools and Technology in Crisis Relief Situations ................ 7 2.1.1 Public Participation in Crisis Response ................. 8 2.2 Sociomateriality of Care ............................. 9 2.3 Storytelling and Narrative Theory ........................ 9 2.4 Crowdfunding in Non-Profit and Grassroots Organization ........... 10 2.4.1 Online Fundraising ............................ 11 2.4.2 Factors Affecting in Philanthropic Giving ............... 11 3 Methodology 17 3.1 Recruitment .................................... 17 3.2 Participants .................................... 20 3.3 Organizations ................................... 21 3.4 Data Collection and Analysis .......................... 25 4 Findings 27 4.1 Avenues to Helping Asylum Seekers ....................... 27 4.1.1 Essential Products and Services ..................... 27 4.1.2 Visits to Detention Centers: ....................... 33 4.1.3 Legal Advice and Aid .......................... 34 4.1.4 Housing .................................. 35 4.1.5 Advocacy and Outreach ......................... 37 4.1.6 Summary ................................. 37 4.2 Organizing & Resource Mobilization by Organizations ............ 38 4.2.1 Facebook ................................. 38 vi 4.2.2 Slack .................................... 40 4.2.3 Whatsapp, Signal & Messaging ..................... 40 4.2.4 Calendar ................................. 41 4.2.5 Google Spreadsheets ........................... 42 4.2.6 Summary ................................. 42 4.3 Information Exchange between Organizations ................. 43 4.3.1 Online exchange of information between stations to estimate migrants flow .................................... 44 4.3.2 Offline Approximation of Asylum Seeker Flow ............. 46 4.3.3 Summary ................................. 46 4.4 Outreach, Advocacy & Digital Organizing ................... 47 4.4.1 Social Media’s Role ............................ 47 4.4.2 Summary ................................. 53 4.5 Care-Work & Invisible-Work in Organizations ................. 54 4.5.1 Summary ................................. 59 4.6 Storytelling, Empathy & Sympathy ....................... 60 4.6.1 Telling Migrants’ Stories ......................... 60 4.6.2 Trust and Anonymity in Storytelling .................. 62 4.6.3 Effective Storytelling for Narrative Empathy .............. 64 4.6.4 Summary ................................. 65 4.7 Online and Offline Fundraising ......................... 66 4.7.1 Online Fundraising ............................ 66 4.7.2 External Factors to Online Fundraising ................. 71 4.7.3 Offline Fundraising ............................ 74 4.7.4 Summary ................................. 74 5 Discussion 75 5.1 Social Media and Technology Design Implications ............... 75 5.2 Adoption of Social Media and Technology by Older Adults .......... 77 5.3 Storytelling .................................... 78 5.4 Fundraising for Emergent and Extending Organizations Online ........ 79 6 Conclusion 80 6.1 Research Questions ................................ 80 6.1.1 RQ1: What are the ways in which organizations helping migrants in the US? What acts of care and invisible work can be observed in the work of organizations? .......................... 80 6.1.2 RQ2: How are social media and technological systems helping organi- zations in their day-to-day and advocacy efforts? ........... 81 6.1.3 RQ3: How are social media and technological systems helping organi- zations raise funds? What role does storytelling have in organizations’ fundraising efforts? ........................... 82 vii Bibliography 84 Appendices 97 Appendix A Interview Protocol 98 viii List of Figures 2.1 Facebook groups associated with Facebook Pages. In this image, the green box depicts the tab where these groups can be found. There are two ways Facebook Pages can be linked to groups - the blue box depicts the groups that are linked to or created by this page and the red box depicts groups that are joined by the page. Images courtesy of the Angry Tias and Abuelas of the RGV. ....................................... 13 2.2 Other Facebook pages associated with Facebook Pages. There are three ways Facebook Pages can be linked