Online weak ties, a sign of a diaspora in-the-making?: the case of the Malagasy abroad

Abstract

Internet 2.0 fosters the emergence, connection and association of a geographically dispersed community such as Malagasy migrants. This exploratory study analyses Malagasy online practices as a means to understanding the social dynamics and community-building in their host countries. The method employed relies on a parallel analysis of 121 websites and 82 Facebook public pages and groups created and/or managed by Malagasy migrants. The websites are classified according to the category of their activity and the networks they form, based on method used in the e-Diasporas Atlas project (Diminescu, 2012). Findings reveal that Malagasy overseas have the same geographical distribution both online and offline, but Facebook pages and groups are present in more countries than the websites what suggests a potential inverse correlation between belonging to a larger community and the need to be connected online. The network analysis of the websites uncovers that the Malagasy migrants’ websites maintain a very weak connection among them and are split into several satellite networks around an interconnected group of political blogs. We conclude this significant weak connection among the MGWEB as a sign of a diaspora in-the making.