Performing transnational family with the affordances of mobile apps : a case study of Polish mothers living in Finland

Abstract

Affordances provided by digital technologies and mobile apps (WhatsApp, Skype, Messenger) help in maintaining familyhood. These mobile apps enable the creation of in-app family groups. They also afford image sharing, which is used for phatic purposes. Digital connectivity provides the illusions of togetherness and belonging, and allows for performing family in a transnational context (emotional transnationalism). However, it also generates the feelings of guilt through infrequent communication. In the auto-driven visual elicitation interviews, the study looks at family constellations and technologically mediated communication from the perspective of five Polish mothers living in Finland. Applying the technique of an interactive collage, participants visualised kinship relations, using colourful cards showing silhouettes of adults and children and icons of mobile apps. The findings reveal complexities in digitally mediated familyhood, performed in the polymedia environment and determined by technological affordances.