Wisnu, Wijaya Stevanus, Watson, Jason, and Bruce, Christine (2018) Understanding empowerment in a social media context: lessons from Indonesian migrant domestic workers. International Journal of Web Based Communities, 14 (2). pp. 172-195.

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Abstract

This paper presents the shared practices amongst Indonesian migrant users of an online community hosted in Facebook which potentially empower them. We conducted a virtual ethnography study which was comprised of online observations and interviews. The results show that shared practices within the online community empower migrants by enhancing their psychological wellbeing, and increasing awareness of migrants' rights. In addition, online shared practices empower a migrant community by facilitating them to organise collective actions. In general, two types of empowerment were observed by this study: individual and community. Empowerment was seen as shared practices amongst individual members of the online community which enhance capability to cope with social challenges and allow them to achieve better wellbeing. Further, empowerment was observed at the community level where the combined assets of individuals was found to increase the capacity of the community as a whole, allowing control over common factors and decisions that influence their capabilities to take actions towards changes.

Item ID:	54888
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1741-8216
Keywords:	migrant workers; empowerment; online community; social technology; Facebook
Funders:	Ministry of Education and Culture, Republic of Indonesia
Date Deposited:	06 Aug 2018 23:30
FoR Codes:	47 LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE > 4702 Cultural studies > 470211 Migrant cultural studies @ 50% 44 HUMAN SOCIETY > 4410 Sociology > 441007 Sociology and social studies of science and technology @ 50%
SEO Codes:	95 CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING > 9502 Communication > 950204 The Media @ 40% 95 CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING > 9504 Religion and Ethics > 950408 Technological Ethics @ 30% 94 LAW, POLITICS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES > 9401 Community Service (excl. Work) > 940111 Ethnicity, Multiculturalism and Migrant Development and Welfare @ 30%
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