Migration in the Digital Age : An Ethnographic Study

Considers how the smartphone has transformed the migration experience by examining the various interconnections between mobile media and human mobilities. Reveals how media technologies and human mobility shape one another and exposes the interplay between the social and technological affordances in contemporary migration. 31 b&w, 16 col. illus.

Explores how mobile media has changed the migration experience, focusing on Central American migration to the United States, which represents the largest migratory corridor in the world. The book analyzes the socio-technical affordances of smartphones and examines the communication practices that migrants engage in while utilizing mobile media. It demonstrates the mutual influence between media technologies and human mobility. The primary objective is to illustrate, through firsthand accounts from migrants, how technology has transformed migration trends and experiences, as well as how the migrant community has shaped the utilization of technology. A key contribution of this work is highlighting the agency and creativity that migrants exercise when interacting with media technology, as they establish their own practices and rituals to meet their needs. Through a diverse range of ethnographic data, interviews, maps, and images, it demonstrates that contemporary migration is a mediated experience. The narrative begins by exploring how smartphones influence and shape the decision to migrate, the journey itself, experiences during transit and navigation, as well as life in migrant shelters and within the diaspora.