Students on the “Web”: Social Media as an Actor in Assembling “Network Spaces” of Educational Migrants in Irkutsk

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Abstract

The article studies daily online and offline practices by trans-local (Russian) and transnational (Chinese) student migrants in Irkutsk. Drawing on the concept proposed by J. Law, distinguishing between “Euclidean space” and “Network space”, we aimed to explain how migrant students’ participation in various digital chats and groups shapes and stabilizes different networks, determining their everyday practices. We demonstrate that for Chinese students, participation in social media groups becomes the foundation for forming their “Network space”, playing a primary role in its assembly. For Russians, however, social media mainly supplement offline practices, supporting building the “Network space”. Thus, while physically present in the same locations (“Euclidean space”) daily, trans-local (Russian) and transnational (Chinese) students perceive them differently as they simultaneously exist in various “Network spaces”, including those influenced by digital resources.

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About the authors

Kiril lIvanov

Irkutsk State University

Author for correspondence.
Email: ivanov-ka@word.isu.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-3895-0082

старший преподаватель кафедры китаеведения

Russian Federation, 1 Karl Marx Str., Irkutsk, 664003

Iuliia Koreshkova

Irkutsk State University

Email: yuliakodzhaeva@yandex.ru

младший научный сотрудник научно-исследовательской части

Russian Federation, 1 Karl Marx Str., Irkutsk, 664003

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2. Fig. 1. The route “hostel-university” with the main locations visited by Russian students: 1 – University; 2 – “130 Quarter”; 3 – Musical Theater, Jerusalem Mountain; 4 – Shopping Center “Orange”; 5 – Hostel

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3. Fig. 2. The main locations visited by Chinese students: 1 – University, Kirov Square, Lower Embankment of the Angara River; 2 – Kitay-gorod Market; 3 – Central Market, Shanghai City Shopping Mall; 4 – 130 Quarter; 5 – Upper Embankment of the Angara River; 6 – Orange Shopping Mall; 7 – Dormitory

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*Экстремистская организация, запрещенная на территории РФ.


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