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49 3 Digital Diaspora Definition and Models michel s. laguerre By virtual diaspora, I mean the use of cyberspace by immigrants or descendants of an immigrant group for the purpose of participating or engaging in online interactional transactions. Such virtual interaction can be with members of the diasporic group living in the same foreign country or in other countries, with individuals or entities in the homeland , or with nonmembers of the group in the hostland and elsewhere. By extension, virtual diaspora is the cyberexpansion of real diaspora. No virtual diaspora can be sustained without real-life diasporas, and in this sense it is not a separate entity, but rather a pole of continuum. —mi c h e l s . l a g u e r r e , “Virtual Diasporas: A New Frontier of National Security,” cited in “Incipient Soviet Diaspora: Encounters in Cyberspace,” by Larisa Fialkova and Maria N. Yelenevskaya The goal of this essay is to assess how information technology has affected subaltern diasporic communities in the Silicon Valley and San Francisco metropolitan area and to develop a theoretical understanding of the diverse manifestations of the problem so that genuine public policy can be engineered .1 The emphasis of the debate on the digital divide has overshadowed the other problems that the interface between information technology and diasporic communities has generated. This essay intends to provide a more adequate conceptualization of the issue that both reflects and sheds light on the conditions of these digital diasporic communities. defining the digital diaspora concept The notion of diaspora, which is used to refer to an immigrant group outside its homeland, has evolved to that of “digital diaspora,” which reflects the engagement of its members in activities related to information technology (it ) (Laguerre 2005).Since their virtual performances may involve more than just the homeland and any specific enclave, it is important to sort out 50 d i a s p o r a s i n t h e n e w m e d i a a g e what is included under digital diaspora and to provide an operational definition so that its identitary characteristics can be spelled out. Three building blocks are required as social infrastructure in order for a digital diaspora to emerge as part of the fabric of society. They are “immigration ,” “information technology connectivity,” and “networking.” A digital diaspora cannot exist without immigration. Therefore, immigration is necessary to make the individual or group diasporic. The only exception to this general rule is when a diaspora comes about as a result of the redesigning of the national borders of a country. Some residents of the traditional homeland may then become citizens of a new national territory. it connectivity is another requirement because it is the backbone of digitization . A diaspora becomes digital to the extent members of the group can access and use telecommunication instruments as a mode of information and communication to reach local and distant contacts. In other words, it connectivity makes it possible for the diaspora to express and perform its digital identity. Networking is also a condition to attain because it requires one to make or entertain contacts with others in order for the “netizens” to function as a virtual community. Online community status is realized through networking , which makes the entire process operational. A digital diaspora then becomes operative when members of the immigrant group engage in cyber communications with other participants in their networks of contacts. The criteria discussed above provide a frame of reference for the elaboration of a definition of digital diaspora. In this light, I argue that a digital diaspora is an immigrant group or descendant of an immigrant population that uses IT connectivity to participate in virtual networks of contacts for a variety of political, economic, social, religious, and communicational purposes that, for the most part, may concern either the homeland, the host land, or both, including its own trajectory abroad. The interface of a diaspora with it that turns it into a digital diaspora has different incarnations. For example, a digital diaspora may be identified as a virtual community because multiple individuals with the same ethnic background or national origin belonging to a multitude of host-land sites converge their online activities in the creation of one or more interactive virtual sites. However, to the extent that these individuals participate in the everyday life of a diasporic enclave, their online activities necessarily contribute and influence the shape of their community of residence. In this sense...

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