Facebook : building an "imagined community" for foreign domestic workers.

• Main Author: Sun, Natalie.
• Other Authors: Sulfikar Amir
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/51673
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Foreign Domestic Workers (FDWs) experience a severe decline in their social lives when they travel to their host country for work. Previously, FDWs had to contend with the use of letter-writing, phone calls from land-lines, and more recently, the use of mobile phones to contact their families. With the new phenomenon of social networking sites popping up, FDWs have been offered a new manner of engaging in their social lives. In particular, Facebook, has provided a platform for the construction of ‘imagined communities’ through the three aspects of people, places, and activities. Facebook combines multiple platforms including text, audio, and visuals in the aid of the construction of these ‘imagined communities’. Through these ‘imagined communities’, FDWs also gain a sense of control and freedom, propelling their desire to sustain these ‘imagined communities’.