Flickr photo by Will Lion

Improving communication with newcomers in the age of social media

March 28, 2017Marco Campana www.marcopolis.org

How do immigrants access information? Immigrant information needs & pathways Immigrant use of the internet - pre and post arrival Major trends - summary of some previous research

How can we reach and serve them better? Importance of trust & credibility in information provision Information problems & overload from an immigrant

perspective It's not all about technology Go to the source, know your audience - the importance

of personalized information provision Some promising practices in the sector

Barriers to information seeking

24 printed pages long, mostly links to other sites...

Accessing Employment Information (TRIEC research)

Where do immigrants get employment information?

1.What demographic characteristics of immigrants determine their level of awareness of employment information or settlement information in general?

2.What are the media habits of immigrants?3.What media channels have been used to market

employment information to immigrants and how effective have they been?

4.How could employment information be better channeled to immigrants?

Major Trends1. Family and friends have continued to be a major source of

employment and settlement information for immigrants

2. Immigrant employment outcomes depend on source of employment information

3. Internet is evolving as a key source

4. In-language media is a priority channel

5. Peer and Informal networks are important

6. Little employment information is being channeled thru traditional media, even less thru ethnic media

7. Traditional advertising is still very effective

8. Lack of translated materials

9. Immigrants trust ethno-cultural media

10. Employed immigrants are looking for employment information

11. Women immigrants are under informed, fare worse than men

12. Cultural demographics matter regarding media access

Source: Arnold Love, 2010

Settlement.org Evaluation - Major Sources of Settlement Information for Settlement.org Users

69%

12%

7%

5%

3%

1%

4%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Websites

Family and Friends

Settlement/Employment Counsellor

Newspapers

Social networking sites and online groups

English Teacher

Other Sources

Where do immigrants get information?

Settlement.org Evaluation - Major Reasons for Using Websites for Settlement Information

42%

36%

12%

4%

2%

5%

Reliable source of information for newcomers

Faster and easier to use

Currently outside Canada

No time to visit an agency that helps newcomers

Live too far from an agency that helps newcomers

Other main reasons

Source: Arnold Love, 2010

Where do immigrants get information?

Statistics Canada, LSIC, 2003

Employment Information Source for Immigrants

10% 10%12%

29%

39%

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Government agency Immigrant or Refugeeserving agency

School, communitycollege or university

Relative or householdmember

Friends

%

Where do immigrants get employment information?

Source: Skills for Change Annual Report, 2009/2010

How Immigrants heard about Skills for Change

(14 000 + clients served)

51%

2% 4% 6%8%

12%17%

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Friend Airpot Flyer Social Worker YMCA Internet Counselor

%

Where do immigrants get employment information?

Most popular mobile messaging apps worldwide as of January 2017

Online learning

75% of Canadian-born used the Internet, compared with 66% of those born elsewhere. For immigrants who arrived in Canada during the last 10 years, the rate was 78%.

New immigrants spend 54%

more time per day on mobile

devices

2014

30,288 members (before relaunch)

Niche social networks

112,956 members

86,128 members

and many more, including in other languages...

29,873 members

509,200 members

25,530 (now 6,359) members

It's not all about technology

Get to know your audience, community, clients.

Assess information problems experienced by them

Get InformationAssess YourselfAccess TrainingGain Workplace ExposureSecure Connections

Pre-arrival