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Diaspora and Media in Europe pp 71–96Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Social Media Use in the Diaspora: The Case of Syrians in Italy

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Abstract

This study empirically examines how the Syrian community in Italy engages with its homeland and receiving country on social media. The work involves the analysis of over 17,000 comments and 894 photos posted on a particular Facebook page. It offers a unique insight into how some members of the Syrian community living in Italy produce online materials posted on social media and represents one of the first studies that empirically examines images and related texts posted on social media by an online diasporic group.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    ‘This online application, called ReCal (Reliability Calculator, available at http://www.dfreelon.org/utils/recalfront/), is operating system-independent, general in its data specification, and offers more reliability coefficients than any of its Web-based peers’ (Freelon 2010).

  2. 2.

    Image 1 (A child surrounded by the Syrian rebels ’ flag): https://www.facebook.cZom/SyrianCommunityItaly/photos/a.213944708623462.62232.208132722537994/658884220796173/?type=3&theater

  3. 3.

    Ibid.

  4. 4.

    Image 2 (A Syrian woman at a refugee camp suffering from serious burns): https://www.facebook.com/SyrianCommunityItaly/photos/a.369729863044945.95206.208132722537994/663941216957140/?type=3&theater

  5. 5.

    Image 3 (A man crying over the body of a dead child): https://www.facebook.com/SyrianCommunityItaly/photos/a.213944708623462.62232.208132722537994/492833700734560/?type=3&theater

  6. 6.

    Image 4 (A happy girl who is happy to be saved from Assad’s atrocities): https://www.facebook.com/SyrianCommunityItaly/photos/a.213944708623462.62232.208132722537994/591760857508510/?type=3&theater

  7. 7.

    Due to the nature of the Facebook page, it was expected that more graphic images would be made available, especially given that Arab audiences are accustomed to viewing such images on traditional media outlets. For example, many Arab channels such as Al Jazeera TV are known to show graphic images in their routine coverage of Middle East crises (Fahmy and Johnson 2007; Zayani and Sahraoui 2007).

  8. 8.

    Image 5 (A mutilated dead body of a Syrian child ): https://www.facebook.com/SyrianCommunityItaly/photos/a.213944708623462.62232.208132722537994/567988189885777/?type=3&theater

  9. 9.

    Image 6 (Anti-Assad demonstration in Italy): https://www.facebook.com/SyrianCommunityItaly/photos/a.574387505912512.1073741827.208132722537994/574388399245756/?type=3&theater

  10. 10.

    Image 7 (Two men and a small boy wearing the Syrian rebel flag while another flag is behind them): https://www.facebook.com/SyrianCommunityItaly/photos/a.213944708623462.62232.208132722537994/492472777437319/?type=3&theater

  11. 11.

    Image 8 (Civilian death and suffering): https://www.facebook.com/SyrianCommunityItaly/photos/a.213944708623462.62232.208132722537994/618045634880032/?type=3&theater

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Ahmed Al-Rawi

  2. University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Shahira Fahmy

Authors
  1. Ahmed Al-Rawi
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  2. Shahira Fahmy
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Karim H. Karim

  2. Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Ahmed Al-Rawi

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Al-Rawi, A., Fahmy, S. (2018). Social Media Use in the Diaspora: The Case of Syrians in Italy. In: Karim, K., Al-Rawi, A. (eds) Diaspora and Media in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65448-5_4

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