A Study On The Social Media Use And Hometown Identity Of Migrant Worker

As a vulnerable group in the information society,migrant workers have been on the edge of the mainstream society for a long time,and are in a disadvantageous position in the use of information devices,information resources,and information services.In recent years,the development of digital technology and mobile internet technology has led to the rapid rise of social media such as We-Chat,Micro Blog and Tik Tok,which has triggered a profound transformation of social communication forms.With the continuous popularization of mobile smart phones,more and more migrant workers begin to explore the way of "media survival".As a complex social ecosystem,social media exerts a subtle influence on people’s way of communication,life style,communication mode and value concept.For migrant workers,the rise of social media not only provides a broader platform for understanding the world,but also provides them with a new way to look back at the countryside,and stimulating the change of their hometown consciousness and hometown identity.This paper mainly adopts the methods of interview and network ethnography to investigate the social media usage of migrant workers,trying to explore what is the basic situation and main motivation of this group’s social media use?And what convenience does social media provide for the recognition of hometown of migrant workers’ ?In terms of the use of social media,the research finds that the popularity of social media among migrant workers has brought them new media experience,and "media survival" has increasingly becoming a normal state in the daily life of this group.Social media,with its excellent tool and entertainment value,has become an indispensable tool for migrant workers.And the use of social media by migrant workers is mainly driven by information needs,social needs and entertainment needs.In terms of the impact of social media use on migrant workers’ hometown recognition,this paper mainly divides hometown recognition into three dimensions: identification of hometown relations,local cultural identity and identity of villagers,and find out it corresponds to three functions of social media,namely connecting social relations,carrying out information dissemination and helping rural governance.First of all,in terms of identification of hometown relations,social media has greatly changed the way of social communication,providing migrant workers with an opportunity to reconnect with rural society.Social media helps migrant workers to re-embed themselves in the network of rural society by supporting the virtual presence of their bodies,and strengthens migrant workers’ hometown relationship identity through relatively frequent interaction and communication.Secondly,in terms of local cultural identity,the transformation of traditional information communication mode by social media greatly improves the possibility of self-expression of local culture.Local culture information transmitted on social media has become an important resource to enhance the cognitive identity and emotional identity of migrant workers.Many migrant workers also share,produce and disseminate local culture information through social media platforms.This reflects migrant workers’ recognition of local culture.Finally,in terms of identity of villagers,rural We-Chat group has constructed a rural public space with both online and offline presence,changed the traditional rural governance mode which relies heavily on physical presence,and brought migrant workers who have left their hometown back into the rural governance system,so as to guarantee their right to know and right to express,and enhance their value in rural governance.On this basis,migrant workers can develop identity of villagers.