Research reports on Social media and migrant Women

How does social media effect for the social wellbeing of   migrant women?

Social media is has been making a difference among the people who are living all over the world. If it stated in 1978 with a limited capacity, it started to explore the world in 1994. From 1994 up to now, the social media networking has been developing with its maximum speed. It has given an opportunity to everybody to be connected with each other without considering about the distance and the space.

Today anybody can use social media if they can reach to the internet facilities. The ethnology is a not a big matter to consider and it is easy to maintain. Anybody can get the advantages of the social media and it is not necessary to have a special education to maintain them. Mobile phone and other easy handling devices have made a comfortable environment to the users. And most of the people have the confidence to use social media without considering their age, ethnicity, education, or religious back ground.

In this research, it has made every effort to understand the effects that have made by social media on immigrant women. Hypothesis of the research is ‘Social media has made a better environment for migrant women benefiting for their communication with their own people and get rid from mental unrest while their adaptation and the migration process’.  Data collection was done by using the questionnaire and twenty-five questions papers were distributed among the women who have migrated from different countries. Twenty-six questions were asked through the paper and question papers were distributed randomly. Few papers were delivered via email as attachment and a set of papers were delivered to by paper based. In addition, few women were interviewed by asking the same questions as they had language difficulties to understand the questions were asked.

Table 1.         Geographical back ground of Women

Country	Quantity
Sri Lanka	3
Pakistan	3
Congo	2
Poland	2
Philippine	2
China	2
India	2
Bangladesh	2
Nigeria	2
Turkey	1
Rumania	1
Iran	1
Iraq	1
Syria	1

Age group	quantity
15-24	6
25-34	6
35-44	6
45-54	4
55-64	3
65-74	0

Table  2

           

           

The age groups were categorised to investigate whether the age is an influential factor for using social media.

Table 3.

Occupation

Student	3
Employed –skilled worker	2
Employed–non skilled worker	8
Unemployed	12
Other	0

As a percentage 12% of women were students when 8% of women were skilled workers. 32% of women were non- skilled workers while 48% of women were unemployed.

Percentage of occupation status

The focus group was selected from different geographical background to over view the basic origination of the selected group. The focus group was belongs to fourteen different countries. Previous experience of usage of social media of these women was very low. It is 8 out of 25. As a percentage it was 32%. It is shown by two pie charts below.

 

   Previous experience of usage of social media

As a percentage

Table 4 .

Total period of living in the UK

Less than one year	2
One year	2
Two years	4
Three years	8
More than five years	7
More than ten years	2

           

According to the table 8% of women have been living in the country less than one year. The same amount of percentage has indicated to the women who has completed one year. 16% of women have been living in the country more than two years and it is the double of less than one year and one year. 32% of women have been living in the country and it is the highest the percentage of this group. 28% women have been living in the country more than five years and 8% of women have been living more than ten years.

100 present of women have their relations back in their country and the same amounts of women communicate with their relations back in their countries. In addition, third out of 25 communicate with them often. It is 92% as a percentage.

Communicate often

Pattern of Communicate

According to research data, the highest numbers of women communicate with their friends and relations back in their home country using video Skype calls. According to the chart, it is 24 out of 25. Percentage of this numbers is 96%. 23 out of 25 women are using face book while 1 out of 25 women does not use face book. This is also a higher number of usage of face book by migrant women that living in the area. The percentage of women who does not use face book 8% when 4% of women does not use video Skype calls. Three out of 25 women are mobile phone users to communicate with their relations back in their home country when 22 out of 25 women do not use mobile phone to communicate with their relations back in their countries.

Usage of landline, LinkedIn, and twitter is zero while email usage is one out of twenty-five. In addition, one out of twenty-five users are using postal letters to communicate to their home countries. According to these results, it proves that most of the migrant women in the Northeast are face book and Skype video call users.

Internet Access facility

Average of internet access facility is 24 out of 25 women. It is a percentage of 96%.

96% percent of women have internet facility in their own mobile phone. They have the opportunity to access internet anywhere within twenty-four hours.

Knowledge about social media

72% percentages of women were not aware about social media though they were very familiar with social media. They knew especially to use Skype, face book and you tube. However, they were not aware about the other social factors such and benefit or harms of the social media. Anyhow, when they were asked about You Tube, face book or Skype everybody knew about these facilities.

18 out of 25 women do not know the meaning of social media while 7 out of 25 women aware about social media

 Having a social media account

20 out of 25 women have Face Book while 24 out of 25 women have Skype accounts. Three out of 25 women has you tube account while 22 out of 25 women have not you tube account. However, hundred percent of women use you tube to watch films and listen to music. Both face book and Skype account holders’ percentage is 80% when you tube, face book and Skype account holders percentage is 12%. The percentage of three of these media account holders is 12%.

How often use Social media

According to this chart, seven out of 25 women use social media weekly while eighteen out of twenty-five women use social media daily. The pie chart below shows the percentage of the weekly and daily usage of Skype, YouTube, and face book

Percentage of hourly usage of social media

Nine out of twenty-five women use social media every 12 hours. All of them are having mobile phones and they have internet access facility in their phones. Five out of twenty five use social media while 3 out of 25 sue every three hours. When 2 out of 25 use social media every two hours, again the same numbers of women use social media within one hour.  2 out of 25 women use the social media every half an hour when 1 out of 25 women use it within 15 minutes. When 1 out of 25 women use social media within 15 minutes, 1 out of 25 women use social media within every 10 minutes.

The usage of social media according to the age is different and women between 15-24 age groups are more likely to use social media than 45-54 age group and 55-64. In addition, the highest amount of women of the focus group is highly connected with social media and the percentage it is 18 out of 25. They are comes under the category of students, homemakers, and unemployed women.

Table 5.

Weekly	7
Daily	18
Every 12 hours	9
Every six hours	5
Every three hours	3
Every two hours	2
Every hour	2
Every half an hour	2
Every fifteen minutes	1
Every ten minutes	1
Every five minutes	1
Other

Table 6.

Favourite things to do when log in to Social media

Upload your pictures	15
Check comments on your pictures	23
Check messages	20
Write comments	15
Search friends and people	17
Chatting with friends and family –home country	24
Chatting with friends –anywhere in the world	12
Making video calls  with family and friends in home country	24
Making video calls with friends anywhere in the world.	7
Watch you tube	23
Other please write-

The table above shows that 15 out of 25 women use to up load pictures in to the face book when they log in to the social media. The main intension of up loading pictures is showing their day today activities to their family and friends in back home countries. The pictures that up loaded are come under different varieties. They show social activities, food preparation ect...

23^rd out of 25^th women prefer to check others comment on their uploaded pictures. These comments are coming not only from their families back in their countries. They are coming from all over the world. 20 out of 25 women check comments on their profiles and pictures. Most of the women are happy when they see comments as ‘like ‘on their face book. 15 out of 25 women write comments on other face book members uploading.

17 out of 25 women prefer to find friends. The majority of the women (60%) try to find their school friends, relations or friends from early work places. The highest numbers of women of the focus group prefer to talk with their friends and families with back their home countries. 72% of women would rather prefer to make video calls to talk with their parents while 38% women prefer to talk with friends.

The charts shows that the highest numbers of women’s’ first choice is chat with their friends and families in their home country the

 The same way they prefer to make video calls with their friends and families. It is 96% of the total focus group.   

 How to find time to use social media

For this section answer were not provided. The focus group had to give their own answers. However, two out of twenty-five women have mentioned that they find time on weekends. It is a percentage of 8%. Four out of women find their time to spend with social media at nighttime. Percentage of this number is higher than first answer and it is 16%. Eleven out of twenty-five women use social media daytime when their children are in school. This is a percentage 44% of total focus group.  Five out of twenty-five women find time any time when they are free. This is a percentage of 20%. In addition, three out of twenty-five women said that to find time is not a special mater for them. Percentage of this category is 12%.

The next question was asked to understand the impact of the social media. The question was asked whether they feel uncomfortable when they are not logging or not using social media. 13 out twenty-five of women said that they feel uncomfortable when they are not connected with social media. 12 out of twenty-five women said that they do not feel uncomfortable when they are not connected to the social media.

Do social media help your day today life?

15 out of 25 women said yes when 10 out of 25 women said no. These are a percentage of 60% and a 40%. The higher percentage of women have accepted that social media as a very helpful service. Women who belong to this percentage are not employed and they have a very strong relationship with their families back in their home countries.

24 out of 25 women accepted that social media help them in their day today life activities. According 60 percentages of answers, they receive email from their friends, job companies, and educational institutions. 80% of women enjoying their day today life having benefits from Skype video calls. One out of twenty-five women sais that she really does not enjoy the social media and it has not given a considerable impact to her life.

How do you rate social media?

60% of women rated it as excellent while 20% of women mentioned it as good. 12% of women rated it as satisfactory when 8% of women mentioned it as No idea.

 How do social media help you to maintain relationship with your friends and family back in your own country?

For this question, 15 out of 25 women said social media is very helpful them to continue their relationship with their friends and family back in their own country. It is a 60 percentage of the total focus group. Nine out of twenty-five women said that social media is help full and it a 36 percentage of the total. One out of twenty-five women said that it is not help full when zero out of twenty five women said it is not relevant.

Very helpful	15
Helpful	09
Not helpful	01
Not relevant	--
Other – please write	--

Do you think that social media is a secure way to communicate

15 out of women believe that social media is a secure way to communicate while 10 out of 25 women believe it is not a secure way to communicate.

Eighteen out of 25 women accepted that social media  is good as for searching people and getting in touch with the people that they have not seen in years.

The same way 7 out of 25 women accepted that sometimes people create fake accounts and make their photos accessible to anyone so no it is not secure way.

Protect women’s privacy

19 out of women think the social media protect women’s’ privacy while 6 out of 25 women think it does not protect omen’s privacy. Majority of the women believe that women should not provide their personal information to the social media. Especially, when they up load pictures they have to concern about their privacy and the security.

Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages

Keep in touch with friends, relatives and colleagues, geographical locations are no barrier to stay in touch	24
To discuss ideas, post news, ask questions and share links	18
Send and receive messages, upload photos, and videos	20
face to face communication,	24
Help colleagues find me	16
Free advertising and Marketing	8
It is very free of charge 9 if the internet facilities are available.	25

According to above data 24 out of 25 women enjoy social media communicating with their family and friends. They know that the social media has erased the time and the space in the world. In addition, they think that because of social media geographical barriers are no more valid for communication. 18 out of 25 women think that social media is a good link to share ideas, and inform private and common news to be shared with the world. 20 out of 25 women mentioned that social media giving the advantages to send and receive messages, up load photos and videos. 24 out of 25 women said that it is giving a chance to communicate face to face. 16 out of 25 women said that social media helps them o find their friends and their friends can find them as well. Eight out of women said that social media is a good way to do marketing and advising as it is very free. The average of this category is hundred percent. 

Disadvantages

The focus group mentioned about disadvantages as well.

Can expose individuals to harassment or inappropriate contact from others	20
Addiction, and wasting time	6
The perspective of the Business, with wrong brand strategy may damage your reputation	6
Fake accounts will lead to frustrate people and lose their confidence. (can be ended with suicide)	8

 20 out of 25 women mentioned that the social media could be a disadvantage as it can be a cause for individual harassment or inappropriate contact from others. Six out of 25 women have mentioned that the social media is can be harm because it is likely to addiction. In addition, it wastes time.  Another six out of 25 women mentioned that it would be a cause to damage the reputation. Eight out of 25 women said that social media can be very harmful and it would lead to frustrate people and lose their confidence. They think that it would lead someone’s life ended up with suicide.

Conclusion

According to the research data it is clear that social media is a useful communication tool for women who are marginalised from the main stream community.  According to the research findings, the highest number of social media usage is using Skype video calls. The percentage of this section is 96%. It is a considerable amount when compare with other elements. Majority of the women think that social media is a cheapest communication link and it is convenient for them. 60 percent of women believe that social media is a secure communication tool to communicate with their friends and families. They think that they are not alone anymore when they have the social media facility. This is a god trend for migrated women who have to adapt to the new society. in addition, this trend help them to build their life style without mental break downs even though they have come to a new society .