Gender, Ageing, and the Filipino Migrant Family Online: Filipina Facebook Vloggers (Reels) in Japan
摘要
Social Networking Sites (SNS) like Facebook recently gained traction as emerging spaces to connect, view, and share migrant experiences with a global audience. However, as these platforms were often associated with youth, they remained underexplored as accessible sites for analysing the representation of older Filipina vloggers in Japan. Changes in media consumption and the evolution of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) transformed how migrants represented themselves and communicated across borders. Filipino migrant women who had established families in Japan experienced ageing amidst the precarity of distance from their transnational kin. As a result, they increasingly relied on ICTs and the strength of their connections within nuclear families and local communities in Japan. In these rapidly evolving, youth-dominated digital environments, this chapter examined how ageing migrant women claimed space on SNS and used it to enrich their lives abroad. It also considered how SNS boosted older migrants’ morale and enhanced their local and transnational social capital. Using digital content analysis, the study investigated Filipino migrant women’s online videos and revealed how older, rooted migrants used Facebook in their daily lives. These practices demonstrated agency in navigating youth-centric digital platforms, creating new opportunities for connection, visibility, and representation, and new modes of transnational support. Ultimately, these digital practices contributed to more nuanced portrayals and more empowered and socially connected ageing experiences for older Filipino migrant women in Japan.