Modern

Communication
Tools
for lmmigrants
by Lin Wang

Jmmigrants often feel as if they are strangers Instant Messaging

I in a strangeland. Indeed,leavingbehindyour Do you imaginetalking to your family back home
Ihomeland and your family is no easytask.But dir,mntlythrough the computer?While time differences
immigration doesnot meanthat you would nevertalk to omm get in the way, instantmessagingis an incredible
them again- thanksto technology,communicatingwith
s,KPgr-,tence.
your family can be one easyclick away. MSN Messenger(www.msn.com/)is the most
Social Networking Sites populartool usedfor talking live. ..It's free," comments
If you have internetconnection,social-networking CherieCheong,a teenwho immigratedherewhen she
sitescan be greattools. Facebook(www.facebook.com) was a child. "Nowadaysalmosteveryonehasa
israsite where anyonecan sign up free. Onceyou join, computorand an MSN account- my family is hundreds
you will be able to link not only with family and friends, of kilornetersaway,but they seemso close,and it,s so
but also your former community.Another option is to oosyto keep in touch."
join groupswho shareyour cultural interests,or create rrirr,.'
Fir8t, you would have to createan account and
a group for the family by invitation only. you can also downloadthe messengersoftware.Then, add your
set your proflle to be viewed only by your contacts,and family to the contactlist. As long as you go online at the
then customizeit with personalinformation.Upload sametime as your family, you will be able to talk, share
photosof your work place,or createan eventreminder files, or evenplay a gameof chess.If you want to make
for up0omingbirthdaysand celebrations.you can even the most of this experience,get a camera,a set of
sharevideo clips ofyour daughter,sgraduationor photos speakersand a headset.
of Canadawith your family back in the home country. This will allow vou to actually seeyour family and
Another interestingfeature heartheir voices.Ifthere
is the ability for you to write are more than two or more
regular statusupdatessuch contactsonline, you can
as "l passedmy citizenship even havea shared
test" and 'Just got back conversationand talk to
from work". them all in the samechat
MySpace window.
(www. myspace.com) is a Of course,someof you
networkingsite with similar may prefer not to bother
functionslike photo and with downloads.If you are
music sharing.The looking for a simpler
differencesare slim between messagingtool, try Google
the two - Facebookfocuses Chat,providedby Gmail
more on building connections (www.gmail.com). As long
and has a wide variety of as you and your family are
applicationssuchas games,
both loggedonto Gmail,
while MySpaceplaces you can chat with each
emphasison self-expression
other throughany web
through creativeuseof
browser.This functionis
online media.
very handy and easyto use.
54 Canadian I{ewcomer Magazine - May/June 2009
Photo & Video Sharing
Would you like to sharephotos of your new car
with the family? What abouta video tour of your
a$artment?Every momentof living in a foreign
Co+ntryis quite exciting, so do not hesitateto capture
the experience.
Then, sharethe photos and videos online through
Flickr (www.flickr.com), often describedby usersas the
"S.p b"tt online photo-sharingapplicationin the whole
fiisiid." This applicationallows you to upload
dihotosand videos from your desktop,through email or
wen using your cameraphone.It also lets you edit them
to your heart'scontent!When you are done.
organiz,ethem into setsof similar themesand share
them with your family. They can do the sameand
inform you of the changesback home.Last but not
least,Flickr is offered in multiple languagesranging
from Mandarin,Dutch and Frenchto Italian, Portuguese
:
and Spanish.Sign up free in whateverlanguageyou are ,:
comfortablewith using.
Again, Google offers its own versionof photo \\
sharingthrough Picasaweb albums.You havethe
-<.
option of downloadingthe softwareto organizeyour c

photoson computeror to uploadphotosdirectly. 6*

t
Youtube(www.youtube.com)too offers usersthe ability
to uploadvideos,or even startyour own .;
channelof broadcasts. \

Websites& Blogs
W-ebs(www.webs.com)offers free web hosting
underits domain name.You can createa personalized
pagewi,thanythingyou will ever want to sharewith
your ftmily. Thereare more than 300 templatesoffered, l'vefounC
along,Withpageeditors.Photoand video sharing
fufltctirbnsare also available, though not as advancedas
w,ay
r"nv
o#sidreated solely for thosepurposes.You can even
qtbatea,'oring"to connectwith your family, or add them
agaln
tb yhur mailing list. A function of interestto families
t*yifig to stay in contact is the personalforum. You and
your family can createthreads,and thus share
discussionswithout any worry over time difference.
Ask abouttheir healthand post any exciting news you
may have.A simplerversionof web-creatingis the Page
Creator,offeredby Google.
Blogs are also gainingpopularity acrossthe web.
Userscan post announcements and writing alongwith
videos and pictureson the blog. Setthe blog statusto
private, give eachfamily memberan accountand you
will be able to network. Blogger (www.blogger.com)
and Wordpress(www.wordpress.com) both host them
free, and their functionsare similar.
Whetheryou arejust preparingto leaveyour home
country or you are a landed immigrant, there are ways
for you to stay connectedwith your family and roots.
Distanceshouldno longerbe an obstaclefor immigrant
families trying to maintaincontact. Gnn

Canadianl{ewcomerMagazine May/June2009 55