Friendship over distance SSAP Seminar

Skilled migration to Australia is increasing, yet little is known about the impacts of migration on friendships. Old friends that are left behind are no longer co-present, so moving to a new country can rupture friendships.

This presentation draws on interview findings with 20 skilled migrants to Australia to examine the ways that geographic and temporal distance impacted on maintaining friendships with old friends.

Following migration, there were two main ways that migrants maintained friendships with old friends, which were: the home visit; and, using communications technologies such as mobile phones and Internet applications (e.g. Facebook) to stay in contact, and examples of both of these strategies are explored in this presentation. Using a micro-social approach to interaction, this presentation suggests that using communications technologies that acted as a type of supportive interchange that attempted to maintain emotional connections and to continue friendships. However, these varied in success because structural factors of time, distance and stage of life impacted on the ability of migrants to maintain emotional closeness with their old friends.