Participation of Transnational Migrants in the Formation of the Host Country Image Through Mass Self-communication

• Published in: Digital Transformation and Global Society Vol. 1503; pp. 389 - 402
• Main Authors: Smoliarova, Anna, Taranova, Yuliya, Vagaitceva, Marianna
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Springer International Publishing AG 2022; Springer International Publishing
• Series: Communications in Computer and Information Science
• Subjects: Branding and image-making; Mass self-communication; Place marketing; Russophone bloggers; Social media; Stakeholders; Transnational migrants
• ISBN: 9783030937140; 3030937143
• ISSN: 1865-0929; 1865-0937
• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-93715-7_28

This exploratory study focuses on the role of transnational migrants as stakeholders in the process of shaping the image of a place, in particular, the host country. We studied the content created by 10 Russian-speaking Instagram bloggers with migration background residing on different continents. Through the content-analysis of 441 posts published in 2018, we have found that Russian-speaking Instagram bloggers addressing global Russophone audiences paid a significant amount of attention to the dissemination of information about the host country. They covered several aspects of host country image, including climate and geography, history and culture, security and stability, representatives of the host society, and general quality of life in the host country. While the three first categories received almost exclusively positive evaluations, the last ones, rooted in the personal daily experience represent a more diverse and complex picture. Both the bloggers and their audiences form a story about the host countries, which, in turn, forms the mediated image of the countries in the minds of the audience.