Media, Mobility and Culture
Mobility refers to the ability as well as the potential for movement across time and space, both physical and virtual. It is one of the strongest social needs that helps change and growth. Immobility, on the other hand, hampers this movement, and deprives us of personal freedom and agency. Media as a form of expression is a major facilitating tool for mobility, which also has the potential to inhibit it. Culture is the way the society/ or societies interact with each other through various forms such as language, clothing, traditions etc.. and the integration of these three important tools can create a reality for people to create and exist within. Molnar (2020) describes media technologies as ways of oppression for vulnerable individuals that can make or break their lives.
There are also other new ways of portability and social experiences have come to surface through the advancement of media technologies under the realm of mediated mobilities (Keightley and Reading, 2014). And the current state of warfare and global tensions in the world leads us here. Recent tensions in the UK’s neighborhood have led to extreme loss of life, distress and displacement. While this is an ongoing and recurring pattern in our world regardless of the media coverage it gets assigned, it is a heightened time of distress at the moment with Ukrainian people being displaced every second due to Russia’s attack on them. While the news can be a fragmented and often biased framework of selecting and presenting stories, this makes the situation at hand essential to analyze through the lens of both mediated media and mobility.
Asylum seekers and refugees carry around with them the loss of a sense of belonging on top of all the above mentioned consequences. This essay is going to address this issue to a certain extent, with the help of a tool that is also a digital application called ‘Ref-Aid’ (Refugee Aid) for refugees in the UK. This application is a hub for resources ranging from health, shelter, food and non-food items to support groups, employment as well as education. It collaborates and connects with various volunteer platforms and NGO’s with an aim to empower people to find the right means to survive and eventually progress to develop the knowledge about life in the UK to lead comfortable lives ahead. The purpose is to serve as a guide to enable the refugees to navigate their way, both literally and figuratively.
Their mission is to empower immigrants and refugees to access trustworthy services at the ‘palm of their hand’ (Ref Aid website). Their app is available in 41 countries and their partners include 7,500 NGO’s and Non-Profits such as Save the Children, Red Cross, Doctors of World and many more. This application gained momentum and media coverage for their diligent work. And hence, this is an appropriate choice to interrogate on the basis of current affairs. The aim of this analysis is to dissect the features of the application, identify the ways in which it is enabling and disabling mobility of the self and of services in the wider context of media and culture and finally go further to suggest through this case study, different ways that digital media and its products could be more beneficial to those in need.
The aim is to challenge Techosolutionism (Molnar, 2020) that has been adopted by several countries to not just automate the process of elimination for people entering the country but also controlling their boundaries beyond the border through automation of visa processes. A bot has ironically been considered to be intelligent enough to make such decisions. Careful scrutiny of these technologies, and identification of the severe implications and impacts on the world’s citizens is one way to affect change and this is exactly what a stream of media scholars are attempting to currently do.
Drawing upon the affordances of communication, navigation and multimedia of technologies in exile (Marino, 2020), the mobility of self and services will be discussed through various ways in which it has enabled and/ or limited the ‘user’. There can be distuinged three key features namely: Location mapping, Education and UI/UX design respectively for this purpose in the context of the ‘self’.
First, is the most evident tool of location mapping. This feature tracks one’s location to indicate the proximity of resources and safe spaces around them. For instance- if the refugee is looking for free food services then the app would show them the church 10 mins away that serves food or if they are looking for a vehicle, the app would show those NGO’s distributing free bikes according to where they are placed. While this is a good facilitator that shows relevant and essential information along with directions, it doesn’t take into account the initial and the most crucial parts of the journey that involve mapping routes, planning, weather predictions as well as ways of transportation and risk assessment before and during the journey to the UK. This elimination of the former half of the journey points to the simplification of the critical issue at hand that simply ignores the kind of hardships that one has to face before they can even attempt to enter the UK.
There was also a lack of information around border control resources and visa information that one would need to travel so far along. This form of streamlined communication can be connected to the concept of digital borders (Marino, 2020) that are subtly embedded in the culture of mediation, judging by the mere absence of a few affordances and features that would help the journey of their supposed target audience. This proves to be a deterer and a threat to the mobility of the self in terms of actual movement and the complexity of the journey.
Second, is the specific category of ‘Education’. There are a plethora of resources available for language classes along with conversational vocabulary building, training and cultural introductions. This connects the ‘self’ in terms of communication (a necessary skill to operate in today’s society). And as language is the clearest and the most effective form of communication, having these educational opportunities and resources can pose as a life- changing opportunity. Most of the immigrants speak their home language and are therefore completely lost because this inhibits their ability to read signs, use public transportation, use information resources or simply ask for advice. This feature holds the capacity to not only mobilise one’s social standing but also increase the number of job prospects and other opportunities that might come their way.
However, the limitation here lies in a bitter contradiction of the information itself. The number of languages that are available in the application for translations in order to engage with the material and decipher the content properly are limited. While the app claims to be multilingual, it is true to only a certain extent- there are 5-6 language translations available in total. It was also noticed that this flexibility depends on the page one wants to translate. For example- few pages like legal aid offer several language viewing options, while others such as offer only English. This creates a disparity in accessing information to its full potential and can pose a serious barrier and gap to mobility.
This kind of a gap can be further dissected to track the source of the information itself- the creators, designers and mediators including the Non-Profit partners. Is it originating from a position of privilege or power, from a sympathetic view or are the users involved in the creation and iteration of the way the resources are presented. This question remains to be assessed, while there is scope for further analysis by looking at the psychological aspect of the design, and how more empathic ways of presentation can be taken into account. Employing people from different nationalities who also who have first hand experience of the journey of learning a new language in a foreign country could allow for a more inclusive set of features in the app.
And lastly, another evident layer of better navigation, would be the experience of interacting with the multimedia itself. The simple user experience design makes it easy to discover what one is looking for by the relevant and key search words, clear categories and simple easy to digest color palette. The use of subtle shades and colors make the user experience less stressful and can have a remarkable impact on the mental health of the individuals. The theory of timeless time by Castells (2010) suggests that time can be manipulated and compressed via digital technologies to create a state of flow, and that time is anyway a social construct. This way of designing an application can be a way to indulge the ‘self’ in navigating in a state of flow, but could also be contradictory as time could be of the essence for those looking for the right answers as a means of basic needs of survival. The flip side of the coin, could be to consider if a more alerting colour palette (with loud colours and reds) would be better suitable for such an application, so as to direct attention to the right link or category. This remains debatable and could be further discussed with regard to what the users emote while engaging with the content. User reviews could be beneficial here, that would enable better processes of iteration and a direct insight into the feelings and thoughts of the people using the platform.
In the context of mobility of ‘services’, the key factors identified are- the nature of inclusivity, sense of connectivity and databases respectively. Refugee aid extends its services by holding and maintaining a database of all the necessary, available and recommended, not to forget trustworthy resources all in one place. There are helpline numbers for emergency situations for both war and covid related contentions, along with the other aforementioned services. These hold the power to enable the individual to receive the correct information and utilize them for further progression in their journey. However, It was found that a lot of the resources were not as inclusive as they might seem at the surface level. Indepth navigation proved that most of the times, they would only serve those who had already been applicants in the UK for the refugee status for at least the past 2 years or so.
There were quite a lot of latent requirements that would possibly hinder and even cause frustration in those who have recently entered a new territory, making it almost impossible to elevate their condition. Other barriers included referrals from recognised NGO’s that would further require an added process of identification and waiting. This almost replicates the nature of the digital borders that use technologies to resist the flow of immigrants and refugees coming into their countries. Alot of dehumanized processes and technologies such as face monitoring of emotions, AI lie detectors and drones are used for border control and scrutiny purposes that perpetuate trauma. This complexity hampers mobility of services to reach the right ‘audiences’.
While recognition of the community’s existence and creating a digital ‘safe’ space for them is a stepping stone that supports humanitarian law, it may also reinstate the age-old narrative and representation of the refugees as ‘objects of pity’ (Marino, 2020, p. 76). Using the top-down approach and saviour complex by simplification of the critical issue. Blake (2019) talks about convergence of ideas of politicians and right wing media outlets that mediate in a way that portrays the individuals as ‘others’ – someone who is distanced from reality and is considered to be alien, unknown and hence scary. This narrative of being afraid of refugee and asylum seekers to corrupt the supposed ‘pure’ countries makes it difficult for change to be facilitated on a larger and a more transformational scale.
Coming back to Sara Marino’s (2020) affordance of connectivity, the application was found to be out of touch with the communication needs of its users. The acknowledgement of the social and cultural need of ‘sense of belonging’ and ‘sense of community’ was a point of contention as the application is in possession of a wholesome database of the users who are in need of these resources and are active participants of the service. The scope to expand and serve individuals need to connect is significant here. While there are other messenger apps like whatsapp, facebook and telegram, they are all self mediated. This platform has the potential to create a community by a chat feature based on consent of course. It could prove to be a powerful medium to connect those who are in close proximity and have experienced similar situations at times leaving behind most of their family and material possessions. It would serve as an outlet of self-expression, and could possibly develop into a social media for the community that could empower and help people create meaningful connections in a mediated virtual space.
There are however, a few links that redirect to community classes for yoga, training etc.., support groups as well as employment and volunteering services. This is a positive physical interaction opportunity to cater to the community needs of people. Employment recruiters and volunteer accelerator programmes mobilize ‘the self’ as a result of the services. As these mobilities overlap much often, it can be said that the issue at hand has many layers of complexity that are at every point interrelated to one another.
The pace of updating databases by partner organizations can also create a delay in the rather stimulating and urgency provoked environment of the user. Marino’s (2020) research presents such frustrations by the interviewees who have mentioned the difficulty they have faced with the lack of regular, updated resources. This can create further hindrance in the so called mediated mobility of services and it would take a rather long time for them to move from point A (the non-food items for instance) to point B (the person in need).
Further suggestions for this application are features of important news stories and change in visa or stay back regulations as a part of the information section. As a service connector provider, linking trustworthy news platforms along with activist groups that stand for change would possibly further empower people to maintain hope and be up to date with the current affairs that would affect and influence their mobility and personal life directly. This is in addition to the much-needed incorporation of the ‘before’ and ‘during’ parts of the journey, that need equal importance and recognition if not more. The incorporation of features like contact information of volunteers near borders and weather predictions would definitely help in eliminating or at least decreasing the help taken from smugglers in illegal and often dangerous ways.
It is now evident that these gaps in forms of communication and mediation are required to be altered according to the current plight and emotions of the people who are going through this at the moment. In conclusion, there must be another point that must be addressed from a media student’s point of view (which is still limited). It is the unpopularity of this application, and other platforms such as these. It can be extremely challenging to find these resources without good search engine optimization, especially from a different geographical territory. This could mean a lack of funding paired with a further lack of importance given to these critical and need of the hour issues. It is known that the current state of matters is a result of the narratives that have been going around in the media for decades, conditioning the citizens to the wrong truth. This kind of instilled cognitive dissonance has been creating problems for those migrating to a place of refuge after a history of insecurity and even war. The so-called ‘refugee crisis’ has become even more critical in the time of a pandemic according to Molnar (2020). Covid-19 has tremendously raised the cases of fear and stigma that have associated immigrants and refugees with disease and plague. Algorythmic discrimination has accelarated under these circumstances and have taken away agency of people to determine their own fate. This dehumanization and separation of ‘us’ and ‘them’ has been evidently perpetuated and carried on to create half baked help resources. While there are counter flows emerging in alternative media, there needs to be much more attention to be paid in order to facilitate quality, extensive bodies of work to support the citizens of the world that deserve basic human rights instead of regressing back to the age of technological determinism and resisting people through various loopholes in the system.
References:
Ahmed and Tondo (2021) Fortress Europe: the millions spent on military-grade tech to deter refugees. The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/globaldevelopment/2021/dec/06/fortress-europe-the-millio ns-spent-on-military-grade-tech-to-deterrefugees
Blake, J. (2019) ‘Simulating Experiences of Displacement and Migration: Developing Immersive and Interactive Media Forms Around Factual Narratives’: International Journal of E-Politics 10 (1), pp. 49-59.
Castells, M. (2010) The Rise of the Network Society: Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Gillespie, T. et al. (2014) Media Technologies. Essays on Communication, Materiality and Society: MIT Press
Keightley, E. and Reading, A. (2014) ‘Mediated mobilities’, Media, Culture & Society, 36(3), pp. 285–301.
Marino, S. (2020) Mediating the Refugee Crisis: Digital Solidarity, Humanitarian Technologies and Border Regimes. London: Palgrave Macmillan
Molnar, P. (2020) Technological Testing Grounds. Migration Management Experiments and Reflections from the Ground Up. EDRi; and the Refugee Law Lab.
RefAid app connects migrants and refugees with services in Malta: European Website on Integration. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/migrant-integration/news/refaid-app-connects-migrants-and-refuge es-services-malta_en
RefAid – About: RefAid. Available at: https://refaid.com/