Going Home with Just a Phone 

In this day and age, we have access to almost everything at just a few taps on a screen the size of our palm; and for those who have moved from their country of origin, or have families overseas, home is just a click away. Social media, and for my example Instagram in particular, makes the country of origin virtual, and allows people to be part of virtual ethnic communities.

Diasporic communities maintain their identity and history through narrative, which is inscribed into a space to make place (Kuttainen, 2015). Instagram allows diasporic peoples to inscribe their narrative onto the virtual space, and create a place in which users from all of their 'secondary poles' can connect with their 'central pole' through image and video. One feature of the diaspora according to Ma Mung (2005) is that through the migratory process, diasporic people develop an identity, and share a common origin. The rising prevalence of social media has rather updated this migratory process. For example, the Instagram account @everydayafrica allows people who have moved from Africa, be it as a refugee or not, or those who have African heritage to experience and engage with their culture. It gives them a community where they can connect with each other and develop an ethnic identity. But more than that, it creates a feeling of shared common origin, by making their home virtual. 

EverydayAfrica is a place where Africans can follow each other an connect with each other, whether they are in the same country or on other sides of the globe, and build and keep alive the networks which are crucial to the diaspora. 

References:

Dailymotion. (2013). I wanna go home !!!.....cover. Retrieved from http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xycxww_i-wanna-go-home-cover_music

Kuttainen, V. (2015) People Networks [Lecture Slides]. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/

Ma Mung, E . (2005). Diaspora, Spatiality, Identities. In Comparative European Research in Migration, Diversity and Identities. Bilbao: University of Deusto.