Diaspora No More? The Role of Facebook in the Development of a Global Rotuman Community

Abstract

This article is the product of nearly sixty years of ethnographic research among people from the island of Rotuma in the South Pacific, during which time the population has developed into a distinctive ethnic group that has scattered around the world. The processes by which a relatively isolated island-bound people transformed to a culturally conscious diasporic population are documented. Of special concern are the ways in which the Internet has been instrumental in producing a now-global Rotuman community via a Web site I created in 1996 and the introduction of Facebook a decade later. Data from my participation with a number of Rotuman Facebook groups and the results of an online survey concerning Rotumans’ experiences with Facebook are presented to illustrate the impact of social media on the processes of community formation. The changes that have taken place as a result of Internet participation raise questions about the relationship between the concepts of community and diaspora, which are explored in the light of debated definitions of each.