Digital Diaspora: How Immigrants are capitalizing on Today's Technology

WELCOMING CENTER for NEW PENNSYLVANIANS

Digital Diaspora How Immigrants are Capitalizing on Today’s Technology

Summary of Report Findings

November 2012


The Data You’re About to See...

• This presentation covers

high-level findings

• A detailed report with

methodology and survey

questions is available at:

www.welcomingcenter.org/tech


Diaspora: Movement, Migration, or Scattering

People scattered by migration

are reuniting themselves through

mobile technology.

Their rapid re-connection is

reshaping our world.


The Impetus: An Untold Story

• We saw that immigrant entrepreneurs and journalists

were using mobile technology in innovative ways

• We also noticed that virtually all our immigrant clients

had cell phones, and often had smart phones

• Mainstream research on technology usage did not

seem to have documented these phenomena

And so…


Setting Out to Collect Rigorous and Verifiable Data

• Survey protocol developed and beta-tested with diverse pool of

respondents

• Official survey fielded between July 1 and August 31, 2012

• Mixture of in-person interviews and online surveys

• Follow-ups with community leaders


From Bhutan to Syria: Our Sample Population

• 118 respondents (79 online

surveys; 39 oral interviews)

• 50% male and 50% female

• Born in 43 countries (and one

U.S. territory)

• Working age (18-64 years old)

• Half have lived in the US for 5

years or less


In Perspective: Comparing the US Immigrant Population to Philadelphia Area

13%

28%

4%

53%

3%

21%

40%

8%

29%

2%

Europe Asia + MiddleEast

Africa Latin America +Caribbean

Other

Philadelphia Area Immigrants Are More Diverse Than Nationally

United States: Philadelphia area:


• Survey respondents spoke 19

different languages

• Many respondents reported

speaking three or four

languages

• Languages included:

– Estonian (Eastern Europe)

– Kissi & Wolof (West Africa)

– Malayalam (South Asia)

– Tamazight (North Africa)

Strong Multilingual Skills


Key Informants

• We supplemented our survey with

interviews of a dozen community

leaders

• Men and women from a diverse

range of backgrounds helped us

illuminate our findings via specific

examples


Establishing Strict Statistical Standards

• Draft survey protocol and proposed data

collection process approved by Ph.D. evaluator

and university instructor

• Following data collection, data analysis plan

reviewed and approved as well

• Data input into Excel, then analyzed in SPSS

• All findings statistically significant; p=.05 or less.


Comparing Immigrant Respondents to the US Public

• An in-depth search yielded no

existing data sets or reports on

immigrant technology usage

• Our comparison data comes from the

Pew Internet & American Life Project

• Throughout this presentation, we will

refer to both the US public overall

and to US smart phone users


What We Found

Immigrants have embraced mobile

technology to an extraordinary

degree. Their utilization is:

I. Personal and social

II. Global and interactive

III. Inventive and entrepreneurial


Part I: Personal and Social


In a Nutshell: Our Findings in One Graph

Sources: Statistics on all US cell phone users & smartphone users from Pew Internet & American Life Project, 2011. Pew does not specifically ask about nativity, but as a national

sample will inevitably include immigrants. Statistics on immigrants from the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians' Digital Diaspora report, 2012.

*Welcoming Center survey combined video & audio recordings

+Pew data combined photos & videos


Enthusiastic Consumers, Willing to Shop Around

Immigrants are overwhelmingly using

cell phones. A majority are using

smart phones and unlimited plans.

When major carriers aren’t providing

what they need, immigrants are

turning to smaller carriers for

services such as international calling

plans.


Investing in Unlimited Phone Plans

Unlimited 57%

Family plan 24%

Specific # of minutes

15%

Not sure 4%

Many Immigrants Opt for Unlimited Mobile Plans

N=82


Latino Immigrants Are Especially Likely to Purchase Unlimited Plans

73%

54%

37% 35%

Latin Amer. &Caribbean

Africa Europe Asia & MiddleEast

Nearly 3 in 4 Latin American & Caribbean Immigrants Purchase

Unlimited Plans

N=93


Coming to America, Staying in Touch with the World

• New & longtime

immigrants alike

overwhelmingly stay in

touch with others abroad

• Family and friends are

natural contacts

• Business, political, and

media contacts are

common as well


Arriving in the US Already Fluent in SMS

95%

61%

Immigrants All US Adults

Immigrants More Likely to Text than Overall US Population


Using Their Phones to the Fullest Capacity

• Overall, 73% of all immigrant

respondents send emails by phone,

including 43% who do so often

• In comparison, just 31% of US adults

overall send email via phone

• Like US adults overall, immigrant

women are more likely to send email

(79% compared to 58% of men)


For 2 out of 3 Immigrants, Mobile Means Social

• 65% of immigrant

respondents use their

phones to update social

media (compared to 24%

of US adults overall)

• US-based services are

popular, but so are

international sites


57%

77%

48%

88%

Men

Women

New Arrivals

Longest-TermResidents

Women & Longest-Term Residents More Likely to Use Mobile Phones for

Navigation

N=98

GPS: Finding the Way with Mobile Phones

N=101


Highly Responsive to Mobile Payment Options

• Immigrants are nearly

30% more likely than

U.S. smart phone users to

report paying bills by phone

• Overall, 47% of immigrants

report doing so

67%

52%

40%

19%

Latin America &Caribbean

Africa Europe Asia & MiddleEast

Mobile Bill-Paying is Most Popular Among Latino, African &

Caribbean Immigrants

N=104


More Likely to Make Purchases Via Mobile

Population Percentage

All US Adult Mobile Owners 20%*

All US Smart Phone Owners 29-34%**

Immigrant Respondents 35%

*Data from Harris Interactive, commissioned by Placecast

**Data from Nielsen and Harris Interactive, respectively


39%

43%

40%

8%

11 or more years

6-10 years

2-5 years

Less than 2 years N=97

After Initial Acculturation

Immigrants Become Robust Mobile Shoppers


Part II: Global and Interactive


Creating & Sharing

Activity Immigrant

Respondents

Overall US

Cell Phone

Owners

Record video

or audio 70% 34%*

Upload video

or audio 47% 22%**

Take photos 89% 73%

Upload photos 62% 22%**

*Pew survey looked at video production only

**Pew survey combined photo and video into

one category

Sources: Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians, Pew Internet & American Life Project


Immigrant-Created Content

Shapes Perceptions Across the Globe

The Diaspora Voice is a weekly TV show

profiling Kenyans across the United States

Chris Wamalwa, Host

//localhost/iframe width=%22560%22 height=%22315%22 src=%22http/:www.youtube.com:embed:vbEEPk-5bi8%22 frameborder=%220%22 allowfullscreen%3E%3C:iframe





Kenya%20TV%20logo%20-%20KTN.jpg


Immigrants Keep Close Ties

with International Contacts

93%

88%

73% 67%

Less than 2 years 2-5 years 6-10 years 11+ years

Recent Arrivals Make the Most International Calls

N=104


Skype Usage is High for Most Immigrants


Staying Up-to-Date With Home Country News

9%

23%

28% 31%

47%

52%

64%

Twitter TextMessage

Online radio Newspaper Facebook Phone calls Website

Immigrants Learn Home Country News Online & Through Personal Contacts

N=118


Facebook Explodes As a Source for Int’l News

50%

69%

48%

14%

Under age 30 Age 30-39 Age 40-49 Age 50+

Adults of Most Ages Rely on Facebook for International News Links

N=108


Most Immigrants Turn to Facebook for News

Though Some Face Home-Country Restrictions

28%

35%

56%

69%

Asia & Middle East* Europe Latin Amer. &Caribbean

Africa

Facebook Skyrockets As Source for International News

*Facebook is

widely blocked

in China and

thus less likely

to be used by

Chinese

immigrants for

home-country

news.

N=109


Part III: Inventive and Entrepreneurial


Entrepreneur Spotlight: Lokalty

Balu Chandrasekaran

Co-Founder

• Tech startup founded by three

Wharton grads

• Rewards program for locally owned

independent businesses

• Capitalizes on mobile usage among

young, tech-savvy shoppers


Using Multimedia to Disseminate Knowledge

• Immpreneur, a website for immigrant

entrepreneurs, launched in 2010

• Today, the site offers dozens of videos on

topics such as:

– Becoming a franchise owner

– Obtaining small-business financing

– Boosting retail sales


In Commerce, Images Can Speak Louder than Words

• Abu, a street vendor, uses his mobile to

send photos of merchandise to

prospective customers

• By doing so, he maintains relationships

with customers who live outside his

neighborhood

• Photos also allow him to communicate

more about his product than his language

skills permit


Radio Renaissance

57%

1 in 2 Immigrants Listen to Radio by Mobile

More than half (57%) of immigrants report

listening to radio via their mobile devices.

Listening options include:

• US-based AM/FM stations with online streams

• Traditional radio stations based abroad

• Online-only services such as Pandora or Spotify

• Specialized stations (such as Haitian gospel

music) tailored for immigrant populations

And one more surprising source…

N=118


When that “Conference Call” is a Radio Show

Radio host Souleymane Diallo,

in his US apartment

(Photo Credit: Abdulai Bah, WYNC)

Using “Free Conference Call” technology,

African immigrants have pioneered a new

approach to community radio

Dozens of shows air each week in French,

Fulani, and other languages

Listeners simply dial a long-distance number

and enter the conference code. The only cost is

in cell phone minutes

Hosts can “DJ” the show from a bedroom or

kitchen table, using a web-based interface


Beyond Dictionaries: Phones as Acculturation Tools

• Many respondents use their

phones to learn English

vocabulary or translate articles

• Others use mobile technology to

practice information they need for

their jobs – such as a restaurant

cashier who must memorize an

order-input screen


A New Window on Rites of Passage

• Immigrants turn to mobile technology to

transmit emotionally resonant and

powerful events such as graduations.

• One family had a son who was injured

while serving in the military abroad. A

friend brought an iPad to the military

hospital so the son could reassure his

parents via video chat.


When Migration Jump-Starts Technological Literacy

• An Algerian respondent told us

that coming to the US inspired her

to learn how to use a computer for

communication

• She recently “attended” a family

wedding via iPad, including

dressing up for the occasion and

then “dancing” with guests!

• Migration provides powerful

incentives for learning new skills in

language and technology


What Does All this Mean?

Catching Up with the New Reality

A new population of

immigrant technology users

is highly engaged,

remarkably savvy, and

fearlessly inventive.

Learn more at:

welcomingcenter.org/tech


About the Welcoming Center

The Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians is a nonprofit economic development organization.

We support immigrant integration into the social, political, and economic life of the Philadelphia region.

Our research and publications document the contributions of immigrant entrepreneurs, workers, and families.

Learn more at www.welcomingcenter.org


Amanda Bergson-Shilcock

1617 John F. Kennedy Blvd., Ste. 555

Philadelphia, PA 19103

215-557-2835

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Digital Diaspora: How Immigrants are capitalizing on Today's Technology

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