Migration Issues in Russian Twitter: Attitudes to Migrants, Social Problems and Online Resources

Abstract

Social networks are a specific space for communication characterized by a high level of freedom of expression. International migration is one of the topics that attract the interest of Russian-language Twitter users. One of the most important issues is the attitude of the population towards international migrants, which impacts all spheres of Russian social networks; however, at the present time there is a lack of research on the Russian segment of social networking concerning migration issues. This paper deals with a reflection of the discussion on international migration issues in the Russian-language Twitter. The data was collected on a platform developed and supported by the Russian company Beensaid. Tweets were selected on the basis of the subject “migration” and its associated keywords and then analyzed. The results demonstrate that many Russian users have a negative attitude towards international migrants. The findings show that there are different kinds of social problems associated with international migration. On the Russian Twitter, the migration flow from Central Asia is mainly discussed; the cultural risks, the security risks connected with illegal migration and terrorist attacks are the main issues for many Russian people. Among the key problems also discussed on Twitter, human rights and violations of the immigrants’ rights in the economic and social spheres in Russia are popular. At the same time, the research findings point to the significant role Twitter plays in disseminating information about various legal and social services, though online resources are not sufficiently used as social support resources for migrants in Russia.