PhD thesis final - Royal Holloway, University of London

6.3.2. Grounding belonging in virtual communitiesChapter 6 –Grounding belonging in leisure spaceIn addition to physical spaces in which Taiwanese expatriates‘ socialising take place,virtual space (i.e. Cyberspace) and online interactions are also an integral part of myrespondents' daily lives and play an important role in their emotional labour ofbelonging. As studies have shown, Cyberspace has increasingly been recognised as aspace for people not only to interact and network (see, for example, Bromberg 1997;Nakamura 2002, Turkle 1999), but also from which people‘s sense of community andbelonging can be fostered (e.g. Bernal 2006; Fox and Roberts 1999; Willison 1997).This is also evidenced in my empirical study on Taiwanese expatriate IT workers‘practices of belonging in relation to their socialising activities. Having good IT skills,the Internet has always been mentioned by my respondents as an important andnecessary tool in their everyday lives, for activities such as staying connected withhome and catching up with what is happening in Taiwan. As a result, Cyberspace is aspace for Taiwanese expatriate IT workers to interact with people so as to broaden theirsocial circle.The socialisation and relationships formed on Cyberspace have advantages. Forexample, I was told by Linda, an employed female expatriate who relocated to Kunshanwith her family three years ago, that the mutual trust and friendships built online can beturned into a resource for Taiwanese expatriates to get tactics to survive in China. Also,Dorothy, a housewife in her early 40s who lives in Shanghai, specified:It was very hard in the first few months, no friends, no job, so I had to rely on my husbandfor everything. That really made me feels useless and depressed. But things changed after Iwas introduced to Luntan, I found it is very useful to, for example, get information and237