India.com: online community building by the Indian diaspora

Virtual space & place  contexts for distanciated interaction  non-physical centers of care and identity formation television Internet  chat rooms  BBS  “blogs”  community networks  etc.

Is there a way to think of virtual space/place that is people-centered rather than medium- centered?

The extensible individual

Communication situations as topologies

Network topology vs. radial topology

A virtual space by and for a particular community  built “in” various media  defined by the needs, desires, plans and projects of a particular community  or communities Weak Identity Group A Group B Group C Group D Group E

Bridgespace  a virtual space “designed” (or rather evolving) as a bridge between: separate times  personal biography  national history separate places  continents  locales (cities, towns, states)  cultures

Bridgespace politics  intervenes in the construction of nation perpetuates a national identity among members of several associated diasporas perpetuates ethnic identities that are transplanted into a host community that does not recognize them  constitutes “sub-ethnicity”  intervenes various ways in the construction of self

Bridgespace economics  a marketplace for goods access to material culture access to potential customers  a marketplace for services employment immigration tax advice  a channel for overseas investment for remittances & overseas gift-giving for the formation/maintenance of professional ties

Culture in bridgespace  slowing diffusion intergenerational transmission intercontinental exchange (of “traditional” culture)  accelerating diffusion intercontinental exchange (of “non-traditional” culture)  hybridization material institutional ideological

Why NRIs?  Collaborative project w/ Rina Ghose, (Illinois State U./U. Wisc. at Milwaukee)  special group high level of technological expertise high income (above U.S. median) recent arrival (1990s for most) various forms of multilingualism including English as second language  actually multiple groups

TOPOLOGY of the NRI bridgespace

Places within bridgespace  hub sites ION EGON LRSEGO  retail sites  cooking site  religious sites  matrimonial sites