Digital Diasporas: How Origin Characteristics and Host-Native Distance Shape Immigrants' Online Cultural Retention

TL;DR

The paper addresses whether online cultural retention among immigrants aligns with mosaic or melting pot narratives, using Facebook Advertising API data for eight origin countries in the USA. It builds two retention metrics, CR1 and CR2, from country-specific and native cultural interests and analyzes them with OLS while incorporating country characteristics and three distance dimensions. Findings show that host–native distance—especially economic and cultural distances—predominantly drives online cultural retention, while origin-country context exerts mixed or negative effects; the presence of compatriots in the host country supports retention, signaling mosaic dynamics online. The work demonstrates that digital traces offer a viable, if imperfect, lens to study acculturation processes and has implications for understanding cultural diversity and integration in online spaces.

Abstract

Immigrants bring unique cultural backgrounds to their host countries. Subsequent interplay of cultures can lead to either a melting pot, where immigrants adopt the dominant culture of the host country, or a mosaic, where distinct cultural identities coexist. The existing literature primarily focuses on the acculturation of immigrants, specifically the melting pot hypothesis. In contrast, we attempt to identify the antecedents of the mosaic hypothesis or factors that enhance (or diminish) the propensity for cultural retention among immigrants. Based on Facebook advertising data for immigrants from 8 countries residing in the USA, our findings suggest that greater host-native distance is linked to higher online cultural retention, and while origin country context is statistically significant, its impact is generally smaller.

Figures (6)

• Figure 1: Spatial distribution of Active Facebook Users across U.S. states among 8 diaspora groups, i.e., expats, according to Facebook categorization. Grey states indicate data unavailability or sparsity.
• Figure 2: Bar chart showing the distribution of interests across different countries, grouped by categories. The chart reports the count of interests for each category in 8 countries. Icons within the bars provide visual indicators of specific interests within each group.
• Figure 3: Red dots report the median values of $CI(Imm)_{\text{Ctry}}$,i.e., cultural interests across various demographic categories of immigrants residing in the US. Conversely, blue dots report the median values of $CI(Nat)_{\text{Ctry}}$,i.e., similar cultural interests of natives - staying in their respective home countries. This figure indicates wide cross-country variations, e.g., higher values for DE and lower values for BR and VN.
• Figure 4: State-level distribution of own-culture engagement, shown as the spatial pattern of red dots in Figure \ref{['fig: median Immigrants vs Natives']}, for 8 diaspora groups. Grey states denote data sparsity, which is higher compared to Figure \ref{['fig:Geographic distribution']} because Figure \ref{['fig:Geographic distribution']} reports the presence of expats (or absolute values of audience size), whereas this figure reports state-wise median values of $CI(Imm)_{\text{Ctry}}$.
• Figure 5: Visual representation of country-level fixed effects on cultural retention (CR$_1$), with Bangladesh as the base category. The cyan (low statistical significance) and blue (high statistical significance) circles represent the coefficients of country dummy variables estimated in Model M7 (Table \ref{['tab:CR1_Country_Distances']}). Horizontal lines indicate 95% confidence intervals, and blue stars denote significance levels.