Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found athttps://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rcjc20Chinese Journal of CommunicationISSN: 1754-4750 (Print) 1754-4769 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcjc20WeChat use of mainland Chinese dual migrants indaily border crossingBei Ju, Todd L. Sandel & Hannah ThinyaneTo cite this article: Bei Ju, Todd L. Sandel & Hannah Thinyane (2019) WeChat use of mainlandChinese dual migrants in daily border crossing, Chinese Journal of Communication, 12:4, 377-394,DOI: 10.1080/17544750.2019.1593207To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/17544750.2019.1593207Published online: 17 May 2019.Submit your article to this journal Article views: 590View related articles View Crossmark dataCiting articles: 6 View citing articles

WeChat use of mainland Chinese dual migrants in dailyborder crossingBei Jua
, Todd L. Sandelb and Hannah ThinyaneaaUnited Nations University Institute on Computing and Society, Macao, Macau SAR, China;bDepartment of Communication, University of Macau, Taipa, Macau SAR, ChinaDrawing on data derived from WeChat and the life experiences of its users,this study explores the daily affordances of WeChat in the cross-border lives ofdual migrants from the Chinese mainland. In this study, 24 low-skilled Chinesedual migrants from the mainland who were working as security guards andcleaners were recruited to participate in in-depth interviews and groupdiscussions. The lives of these dual migrants are marked politically, socially,and economically by their vulnerable status and by the stresses and vicissitudesthat characterize their daily commute between Zhuhai (their place of residence)and Macao (their place of work). Dual migrants from the Chinese mainlanduse electronic media for support, pleasure, and access to information. One ofthe main online platforms they utilize is WeChat, a social networking site thatis available on mobile phones. By framing these dual migrants’ usage ofWeChat within the affordances of social media, this social networking sitefunctions as a digital mediated space that provides migrants with communalsolidarity, social interaction, access to information, and, in some cases,economic benefits.Keywords: vernacular affordances; WeChat; mainland Chinese dual migrants;border crossingIntroductionGlobalization and information and communication technology (ICT) have dra-matically contributed to the increasing mobility of social life and human inter-action. People are no longer confined within a limited geographic space, and theyhave become destabilized and nomadic: we live in an age of social, cultural, eco-nomic, and geographic mobility. Existing studies on mobility have mainly exploredthe changes in human interaction in electronically mediated space, time, and socialcontexts rather than in human corporeal movement (Adey, 2017; Gustafson, 2009;Kakihara & Sørensen, 2001; Ralph & Staeheli, 2011). Most studies in the fields ofmigration and adaptation have focused on international migration or internalmigration (e.g. Berry, 2010; Carr, 2010; Faist, 2000; Gui, Berry, & Zheng, 2012).However, these studies have not fully reflected the complexities of the migrationprocess. This study examines migration within and across various Chinese contextsand spaces, particularly the internal migration of mainland Chinese migrants inMacao, who constitute an under-studied population that is worthy of study.
Corresponding author. Email: jennyju@unu.eduInterested readers could contact the corresponding author for the screenshots exemplifyinghow dual migrant workers used WeChat.
2019 The Centre for Chinese Media and Comparative Communication Research, The Chinese University of Hong KongChinese Journal of Communication, 2019Vol. 12, No. 4, 377–394, https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17544750.2019.1593207

To understand such migratory contexts and practices, it is necessary first tounderstand the role played by the hukou system in determining the patterns and prac-tices of sociocultural movements within China (Zeng & Croucher, 2017). First legis-lated by the National People’s Congress in 1958, the hukou system is a major factorin rural–urban migration within China. Since the beginning of China’s economicreform in 1978, the forces of socioeconomic supply and demand have pushed theChinese government to relax its restrictions on rural–urban migration, which hasresulted in more than 200 million rural people migrating to urbanized areas of China(Zhao, Liu, & Zhang, 2018). Nevertheless, some Chinese migrant workers are notattracted to working in China’s major urban cities. Instead, the possibility of earninga higher salary in one of China’s Special Administrative Regions (SAR) motivatesmigrant workers to cross the border of an SAR (Cao, 2013), including Macao.Previous studies have investigated similar patterns of cross-border migration innearby Hong Kong, focusing primarily on the mobility of people of different back-grounds migrating between Hong Kong and mainland China (Breitung, 2002; Lang& Smart, 2002; Lin & Tse, 2005). However, cross-border labor migrants betweenMacao and the Chinese mainland have not attracted much scholarly attention.Because it concerns the regulated border and limited rights of dual migrants inMacao, cross-border migration, or circular migration, is distinct from mobility.Under the guidelines of the One Country, Two Systems policy, the politically regu-lated border has existed since 1999, when Portuguese administration ended andMacao was handed back to China. Therefore, to work in Macao, migrant workersmust apply for a non-resident worker’s permit, which is officially called a Non-resi-dent Worker’s Identification Card (Entry and Exit of Non-residents, 2018) but iscommonly referred to as a blue card because of its a distinctive blue background.The blue card entitles holders to work and live legally in Macao but only for alimited period of one or two years. In addition, although labor migrants are grantedthe right to work, they are not granted the same social and political rights (e.g. theright to vote in local elections and the access to subsidized and/or free educationand health care) that are accorded to Macao’s official permanent residents.A second key issue considered in this study is the role of ICT, which plays aprominent role in contemporary socio-cultural life (Sandel & Ju, 2015; Schrock,2015). For example, mobile phones, which are a form of mobile media, enable sev-eral affordances, such as portability, availability, locatability, and multimediality(Schrock, 2015). Four affordances of social media, specifically visibility, editability,persistence, and association, have been identified as significant communicationprocesses within organizations (Treem & Leonardi, 2013). Regarding social net-working sites (SNSs), Boyd (2010) pointed out that the four central affordancesof persistence, replicability, scalability, and searchability frame SNSs as forms ofnetworked publics. Not to be overlooked is that ICT has been found to beassociated with negative issues. For instance, in a study of Facebook, Fox andMoreland (2015) identified several negative aspects of these affordances (i.e. con-nectivity, visibility, accessibility, persistence, and social feedback), including theissues of socio-psychological stress and economic hardship as well as the tendencyfor people to become isolated or removed from their immediate socio-culturalenvironment.In this study, both the concept and the framework of SNSs affordances areapplied to explore the perceptions of mainland Chinese dual migrants regardingtheir use of WeChat. By analyzing WeChat technology and associated practices,378 Bei Ju et al.

and the relations between the technology of mobile interfaced SNS and user-gener-ated rules of online space on WeChat, we demonstrate new ways to study thismigrant population.Literature ReviewICT has become a crucial component in the lives of migrants because it hasenabled them to connect with and access a wider world. To develop this connec-tion between electronic technology, social media, and everyday practices, the fol-lowing sections will first explicate the concept of affordance and then describe andexplain the roles of SNSs in migration.The concept of affordance refers to the relationship between the materiality ofthe media and the resources and potential functions that it makes available (thatis, affords) to users. It has provided scholars with a theoretical and conceptualframework for understanding and explaining the relationships between technology,its uses, and its users. It was initially defined as “the particular ways in which anactor, or set of actors, perceives and uses [an] object” (Gibson, 1986, p. 145).Subsequently, the concept was developed to take in the latent relationship thatexists between the objective qualities of an object and the subjective interpretationsof its users (Schmidt, 2007). This development followed the trajectory of afford-ance as it is conceptualized in psychology, design studies, sociology, communica-tion, and media studies, which is focused on four closely related attributes,functions, and contexts. These include affordances as they are perceived and iden-tified, the specifics of technology and its attributes, relevant social dimensions, andthe relation between technology and everyday communication practices (Bucher &Helmond, 2017).Several scholars (e.g. Boyd, 2010; Ellison & Vitak, 2015; Majchrzak, Faraj,Kane, & Azad, 2013; Treem & Leonardi, 2013) identified and described a varietyof affordances in social media and SNSs, including the persistence of use and thepotential for the replicability, scalability, searchability, visibility, editability, andassociation of different platforms. Drawing on the distinctions between high-leveland low-level affordances (Bucher & Helmond, 2017), a platform-sensitive frame-work was proposed, which emphasizes the specificity of platforms as socio-techno-logical environments by associating the relationships that exist among platformusers. However, this previous research has not considered how people understandaffordances in their encounters with technology, which consequently is an undevel-oped and under-theorized aspect of the field. The notion of vernacular affordances(McVeigh-Schultz & Baym, 2015) was developed to explain how possible actionsare triggered by the experiences and perceptions of users, which requires theunderstanding of their practical experience of and relation to technology. As partof this theoretical move, the concept of “imagined affordance” (Nagy & Neff,2015) was posited in order to “create a concept flexible and robust enough for thecomplex emerging social–technical relationships in social life” (p. 5). This concepthas informed and motivated a great deal of new research (Witteborn, 2018) ontechnology usage in social contexts, particularly regarding the affective and cogni-tive aspects of the relationship between technology and users’ experiences ofthat technology.Chinese Journal of Communication 379

This study is situated within these theoretical and conceptual frameworks anddevelopments. It explores the ways in which labor migrants engage with ICT, theuses they make of them, and how they understand and exploit the affordancesprovided by the technology. This study extends this field of research. Althoughrecent studies have qualitatively or quantitatively investigated the role of socialmedia in the process of acculturation based on users’ accounts of their perceptionsand experiences (e.g. Croucher & Rahmani, 2015; Li & Tsai, 2015; Mao & Qian,2015; Sandel, 2014), no previous study has focused on labor migration, the materi-ality of social media, and users’ perceptions of their interactions with them.Social media, social networking sites, and migrationSocial media are central components of the technological regime that facilitatesvarious affordances that are available to migrants in their acculturation processesand everyday socio-cultural and economic practices. Kaplan and Haenlein (2010)defined social media as “a group of Internet-based applications that build on theideological and technological foundations of Web. 2.0, and that allow the creationand exchange of User Generated Content” (p. 61). Most studies in this field haveaddressed the use of social media in relation to groups of newcomers, such asimmigrants, sojourners, and refugees (Croucher & Rahmani, 2015; Lin, Peng,Kim, Kim, & LaRose, 2012; Sandel, 2014; Witteborn, 2018). A broad overview ofsocial media use in relation to migration studies (McGregor & Siegel, 2013)showed that social media “are not only new communication channels in migrationnetworks, but that they actively transform the nature of these networks andthereby facilitate migration” (Dekker & Engbersen, 2014, p. 2).Regarding migrant integration, the relationship between media use and adapta-tion has been discussed in studies that have focused on traditional media, such asnewspapers, radio, and television (Jeffres, 2000; Lee & Tse, 1994; Reece &Palmgreen, 2000). The emergence of social media has extended the research on thestrategies and processes of adaptation by emphasizing the role of SNSs (e.g. Li &Chen, 2014; Mao & Qian, 2015; Sawyer & Chen, 2012). The social role of SNSshas been discussed mainly in terms of social capital, which has been described asan instrument by which possessors can maintain advantages in social class, wealth,and power through interactions and established relationships (Bourdieu, 1983).Manifested as bridging, bonding, and maintaining networks (Ellison, Steinfield, &Lampe, 2007; Granovetter, 1973; Putnam, 2000), social capital has been found toplay a distinctive role across different platforms of social media and their contextsof usage (Li & Chen, 2014; Rosen, Stefanone, & Lackaff, 2010; Zhao, 2014).Although previous studies have provided valuable insights into the relation-ships between social media and the processes of acculturation on the part ofmigrant groups, WeChat, the most popular social media platform in mainlandChina, has received relatively little attention in migration and communicationstudies. Launched in 2011 by the Tencent Company, WeChat offers interactiveand practical services, such as text messaging, hold-to-talk voice messaging, groupchats, Moments, official accounts, red packet, and location, which rapidly becamepopular in China (Sandel, Ou, Wangchuk, Ju, & Duque, 2018). In the secondquarter of 2017, the number of active users each month reached 963 million(Number of Active WeChat Messenger Accounts, 2018).380 Bei Ju et al.

Previous studies showed that the role of media in migration varied accordingto changes in social and technological development. Therefore, in the study ofhow technology influences migrant groups and practices, the dynamic media envir-onment must be taken into account. Moreover, the effects of social media on thesegroups are not well understood. Focused on labor migrants from the Chinesemainland who work in Macao, the present study examines the relationshipsbetween social media and their users in order to consider how dual migrants per-ceive and explain the role of WeChat in their everyday border crossing.MethodologyMainland Chinese dual migrants who work as cleaners or security guards consti-tute a typical example of low-skilled labor workers, most of whom are engaged inthe service sector. I (i.e. the first author) approached them in the attempt to createa rapport with them. My experience as an “educational migrant” who crossed theZhuhai–Macao border twice a week helped establish a sociocultural connectionwith these migrants. I conducted observations and wrote field notes during my fre-quent border crossings. From February to August in 2015, I informally chattedwith labor migrants while I was working at the University of Macau. These chatsled to the recruitment of 24 mainland Chinese dual migrants (13 male securityguards and 11 female cleaners, as shown in Table 1) from 2015 to 2017 as researchparticipants who agreed to take part in in-depth interviews and group discussions.During this period, I conducted online observations of the ways in which thesedual migrants used WeChat. Of the 24 participants, 14 added me to their WeChatcontacts. Another six WeChat users, who did not participate in the interviews andTable 1. Demographic Characteristics of ParticipantsVariable Classification FrequencyGender Male (security guard) 13 (54.2%)Female (cleaner) 11 (45.8%)Total 24Age 20–25 yrs 5 (20.8%)26–30 yrs 10 (41.7%)31–35 yrs 4 (16.7%)36–40 yrs 2 (8.3%)41–45 yrs 3 (12.5%)Original province Guangdong 9 (37.5%)Hunan 5 (20.8%)Guangxi 3 (12.5%)Sichuan 2 (8.3%)Anhui, Fujian, Hainan,Henan, Hubei (one each)5 (4.2%)Length of working in Macao less than 1 yr 10 (41.7%)12–24 months 5 (20.8%)25–36 months 3 (12.5%)37–48 months 3 (12.5%)49–60 months 1 (4.2%)more than 5 yrs 2 (8.3%)Languages spoken Mandarin 24 (100%)Cantonese 12 (50%)Hakka or Teochew 4 (16.7%)Chinese Journal of Communication 381

group discussion, were recruited through the assistance of insiders and friends. Astheir WeChat friend, I observed their posts on Moments (pengyou quan 朋友圈 ,see Ju & Sandel, 2018), and I initiated individual chats and group chats. All par-ticipants gave their permission to share screenshots of WeChat posts and activitiesfor research purposes.The participants responded to questions developed by the researcher. In add-ition, the participants were encouraged to elaborate and narrate personal storiesof their adoption and consumption of social media. Twenty questions were cen-tered on social media and adoption, and they were used to elicit the participants’preferences for and attitudes toward SNSs, interpersonal communication, and thechallenges they faced in the new environment. All interviews and group discussionswere transcribed verbatim into Mandarin Chinese. The transcripts were recheckedfor accuracy by the second author, and the excerpts were translated into Englishfor presentation here.The coding process was conducted manually to categorize the empirical find-ings. Themes were identified and linked by comparing and contrasting quotationsand comments. This inclusive process was meant to consolidate cross-referencesdeveloped in the themes (Hayes, 1997), and to condense selected excerpts for usein the present paper. In addition, screenshots from WeChat (e.g. Moments) werecollected and analyzed based on posted images and texts to better describe howthe Chinese mainland dual migrant workers used SNSs in their everyday lives.Although the participants added me as a WeChat friend, some did not grantaccess to all their previous postings because they had set WeChat Moments to bevisible for limited periods ranging from three days to six months. After conductinginterviews with some participants, they limited the access to their WeChat accountby deleting me from their contacts. However, to gain and maintain the partici-pants’ trust, I did my utmost to meet them face-to-face before the interview, andthen interacted with them via WeChat or offline after each interview.FindingsWeChat usage perceived by mainland Chinese dual migrantsThe most popular mobile SNSs available to the participants crossing the borderinto Macao were QQ, WeChat, and Facebook. Most participants started to useWeChat in 2013. Previously, all the participants had used QQ, and some had usedWeibo. However, QQ was perceived to be outdated and compromised because itwas at risk of being hacked or cheated. In contrast, WeChat was perceived to befashionable, popular, and relatively secure. Facebook usage was not convenientfor the dual migrant workers because of the Chinese government’s policies regard-ing media usage, which restricted access to several platforms, including Facebook.Most of the mainland dual migrants knew about Facebook, but they had neverused it. WeChat, which is the predominant SNS in mainland China, was perceivedto be the best tool.The findings showed that WeChat had both personal and instrumental roles inthe daily lives of the dual migrants (Figure 1). Although these two categories arecomplementary, they have different foci. The personal usage of WeChat indicatedthe users’ social bonds and emotional satisfaction; the instrumental aspect382 Bei Ju et al.

demonstrated that WeChat was used to access information and conduct commer-cial activities.Not making friends with strangersThe key theme identified in the participants’ responses in the interviews and groupdiscussions was how various forms and regimes of social capital were tied withWeChat networks. The dual migrants used WeChat mainly to build interpersonalrelationships by way of social capital. WeChat was viewed as a means of makingand maintaining relationships with people with whom they were alreadyacquainted or with whom they shared sociocultural values, trajectories, and litera-cies. They tried to maintain strong ties with family members and close friends whoprovided reciprocity and emotional support via social media. The dual migrantsneeded this support when they left their hometown and came to live in Zhuhaiand work in Macao. They also made new acquaintances offline, such as new workmates. Some became good friends and used WeChat to stay in contact, such as byorganizing the group activities of shared meals and shopping. Thus, WeChat func-tioned as a social billboard to spread information and to attract poten-tial “customers.”In maintaining social capital, the participants’ former classmates (laoxiang,people from their hometown) were particularly relevant. In bridging social capital,WeChat was a tool used to facilitate employment through the working group chatservice. Another issue worth noting was that none of the participants used Shakeor People Nearby (on WeChat) to contact strangers. They were wary of onlinestrangers, particularly because they were in a new environment. WeChat was per-ceived by the dual migrants mainly as an online platform for connecting individu-als who were familiar with each other, rather than as a space in which to makenew local friends.Figure 1. Perceptions of WeChat usage.Chinese Journal of Communication 383

Entertainment and happiness sharingWeChat was perceived as serving various functions that were personalized by allparticipants; however, in general it provided a space where dual migrants coulddiscuss personal and emotional issues and escape from the pressures and stressesof work. Most participants expressed that they were fully occupied and exhaustedby their daily border crossing experiences, and consequently had almost no timeto watch television. In contrast, WeChat, which was designed for the mobilephone, afforded both entertainment and emotional support. Pleasure and enjoy-ment were often expressed on WeChat and communicated in messages and/or sitesthat had stickers, jokes, social news, and games (e.g. King of Glory). For instance,two emoticons, and were used to indicate and express pleasure. Accordingto Ah Cheng, a single 21-year-old security guard, an ordinary daily conversationfelt more cordial and colorful if emoji were used, which was explained by theparticipants as one reason that they preferred WeChat.The red packet was another attraction. Users could give monetary gifts in theform of virtual Chinese traditional red envelopes with money deposited into thereceiver’s WeChat Pay account. The participants often sent red packets in groupchats during festivals, especially those involving family groups. The red packet isnormally set for group members to compete based on their quickness in clickingthe red packet and their “luckiness.” The participants were not overtly concernedby how much money they sent or received; instead, they were satisfied with anyamount, even if it were only five yuan, as the red packet was perceived to makegroup interactions active and lively.WeChat Moments was perceived as a virtual space for the dual migrantsto relieve negative feelings and stresses and for seeking support and comfort.The participants expressed the emergent informal rules that they followed inposting to Moments. Rule one was the categorization of WeChat friends as theintended audience of messages by distinguishing between friends and colleagues.As the participants explained, private information should not be shared inposts, which could cause trouble or result in misunderstandings. If personal com-ments were seen by colleagues in Macao, it could harm their reputation andwork status.Rule two was the dissemination of 正能量 (zheng neng liang, positive energy)in WeChat posts, such as traveling, assignment completions, fundraising for vul-nerable people, and activities with family and/or friends. Such posts were directedto WeChat friends to produce positive feelings and help maintain morale. Forexample, A’Xue, a 26-year-old female cleaner, posted an inspirational image andtext every morning to motivate herself to persist in her labor as a dual migrant.One of her posts said, “Once you have decided to persevere, and you have reachedthat fated, turning point in life, it is like you have opened a gate that releases a flow-ing stream of water that surpasses all that you could have ever imagined [一旦你坚持下来, 到了命运的拐点, 一切就像开了闸的水, 超乎想象地涌到跟前来].” At thebottom of this picture, the caption, “Everything will fail in the world; but theworld won’t let a hardworking person down [世界会辜负一切, 但不会辜负一个努力的人” is written. By writing this post and similar WeChat Moments posts, shetried to encourage both herself and friends. Unhappy posts, however, were lesslikely to be posted to avoid the negative effects of 负能量 (fu neng liang, negativeenergy). In the WeChat posts, complaints and grievances were perceived as384 Bei Ju et al.

negatively affecting readers. If someone frequently posted negative comments, heor she would be blocked or deleted from WeChat contacts.Rule three was that information about recruitment or promotion should notbe shared via Moments or Group Chat. Ah Cheng, one of the participants,expressed the following:Excerpt 1Original:我會私聊把工作訊息轉給想在澳门谋职的朋友。不知道他們適不適合,他們就自己決定了。如果我把求职信息发在朋友圈里, 会被认为是在卖广告。这些人經常被屏蔽, 因為其他人很反感。Translation: I forward recruitment information to friends looking for jobs in Macao viaprivate chats. Not knowing if [the job/information] is suitable for them, [I] let themdecide for themselves. [But] if I post recruitment information to Moments, it will beregarded as selling/promoting things. These [messages] will then be pingbi [filteredout] because [they] are strongly disliked by people.The perceived trustworthiness of information could play a decisive role in whetherto spread information via Moments. The participants explained that sendersshould be responsible for the reliability of the posted information. They were notwilling to risk their credibility by sharing recruitment or promotional informationon a publicly available network; instead, they selected the platform and/or contentof WeChat messages by anticipating the audience members’ reactions.Information and knowledge seeking and acquisitionWeChat was also perceived as an important platform for information seeking andknowledge acquisition. Using their Moments and official accounts, the partici-pants sought and acquired information such as bus timetables, house rentals, andjobs, fashion, current events, and cultural activities. Such information was relevantto the users’ personal interests and activities. Additionally, users learned moreabout Macao and Zhuhai to improve their life and work experiences in these twonew places. They sought information about matters that were relevant to theirlives and work, such as transportation, sightseeing, immigration rules and policies,and border procedures. (Interestingly, none reported that they sought informationabout Macao and its history, culture, and news.) Official accounts, includingGongbei Immigration Inspection and Macao Bus were frequently used by the dualmigrants. The former provided updated information about the Zhuhai–Macaoborder and immigration policy news; the latter provided real-time informationabout bus transportation. Such information was directly relevant to their plannedand daily activities, including traveling from their home in Zhuhai to the border,crossing the border, taking the bus in Macao, and arriving punctually at work.E-business transactionsThe noticeable commercial usage of WeChat was demonstrated by the practice ofdaigou 代购 (cross-border buying on behalf of others, see Xie, 2018). Some dualmigrants updated their Moments account to promote luxury goods, such asArmani and TissotVRwatches, Swarovski necklaces, Pandora bracelets, and con-cert tickets.Chinese Journal of Communication 385

The use of WeChat for daigou, for example, is displayed in a post of selling apair of “his-and-her” watches. The text at the bottom states that the original pricewas RMB 4590, but it has been reduced to only RMB 3100, which is a 25 percent discount. The insurance fee for SF Express is not charged. If potential buyerswant to watch a short video about the watches, they can have private chats withthe seller or browse his or her WeChat Moments. Customers may transfer moneyto the seller by WeChat, and the seller can post the transaction statement onMoments to express satisfaction with the sale.Hence, WeChat can be used as a tool for commercial transactions and productpromotion. This usage was commented on by other participants, who said theycould send and/or receive money by using the “transfer” function in WeChat. Thisconvenience contributed to WeChat’s acceptance and widespread use among thedual migrant participants.Affordances of WeChat for Mainland Chinese Dual migrantsWe next explore the affordances of WeChat as perceived by the Chinese dualmigrants. The trajectory of an affordances approach, as originally conceived byGibson (1986), is divided into high-level and low-level affordances (Bucher &Helmond, 2017). For example, in WeChat, low-level affordances are understoodas feature-oriented functions, such as Moments and Group Chat, which provideusers with the ability to share information and collaborate on activities. High-levelaffordances are defined as nonobjective and generalized relations between usersand technology; they include features such as persistence and visibility, which areapplicable to both WeChat and Facebook, and which extend the specificallydesigned features of certain platforms. According to Evans, Pearce, Vitak, andTreem (2017), affordances are not simply embodied in technology: social media,for instance, can be understood as having a set of potential functions (i.e. affor-dances) that are not necessarily commensurate with institutional (i.e. formal andcommercial) logics of usage.In using an affordance approach to explore the uses of WeChat in the bordercrossing experiences of mainland Chinese dual migrants, we did not seek to iden-tify distinctions between high-level and low-level affordances. Instead, we exam-ined how these two levels were integrated. High-level affordances of social mediainitially provide relational links between technology and users and then outline ageneral picture of the dynamic mechanism invoked by certain technologies. Thisunderstanding contributes to macro-level distinctions among different types oftechnology, such as telephone and social media. However, discussions of the fea-tures of a specified platform (e.g. WeChat’s Moments) concern functional attrib-utes and what users do with them. Although previous studies distinguished andexplored high-level affordances and low-level affordances in social media, fewhave looked at how the users themselves perceive their engagement with socialmedia. In this section, therefore, we integrate the general dynamics of mobile tech-nology and social media with the participants’ perceptions of WeChat to considerand determine the specific, everyday affordances of WeChat in the dual migrants’life experiences. This approach is conducted not only to explore what a platformaffords to users but also to consider what users bring to the platform.386 Bei Ju et al.

Although it could be claimed that the participants recruited for this study wererepresentative of low-skilled dual migrant workers, they could not be identified assimply illiterate and/or less-educated. Before working in Macao, some had workedin major cities, such as Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Hangzhou. Thus, they hadacquired work experience and communication skills. Motivated by a higher salaryand working with recruitment agents or a network of interpersonal relationships,they sought employment in Macao. However, unable to afford the high cost of liv-ing in Macao, they chose to commute daily between Zhuhai and Macao.The participants commented that because of the regulated border, they weredifferent from rural–urban migrant workers in other Chinese cities. Their dualmigrant lives granted them a higher income, “better” and more “polite” manners,and further opportunities to learn new skills. However, these advantages came atthe cost of less time available for leisure activities. Their working hours were long,about 10–12 hours per day, six days a week. Some voluntarily worked seven daysa week to earn overtime. They also commuted across the Zhuhai–Macao border,which involved an extra three to four hours of travel each day. In addition to thedemands of long hours and hard work, the dual migrants were in a vulnerablesituation because they suffered discrimination, loneliness, and isolation. The dualmigrants’ lives, to a great extent, resembled “slavery”: they had little spare time orsocial life, and their present and future paths were confined to selling their laborendlessly for money.Portability and multimediality were more appealing to dual migrants thanother affordances offered by mobile phones, such as locatability. The conveniencesof portability and accessibility were ranked as the first criterion by the participantswhen they chose technical devices or media, which may explain the importance ofWeChat. In Macao, the dual migrants often logged into WeChat through a Wi-Ficonnection that was available at their work place and on a commuter bus.Portability was evident in the convenience of making WeChat payments. The dualmigrants were able to make instant payments for small purchases through theWeChat Wallet function (i.e. the “walking wallet”). In terms of multimediality,WeChat provided users with a variety of functions. When they were waiting for orriding in a bus, for instance, the multimodality of mobile phones enabled the dualmigrants to browse Moments, watch soap operas, listen to music, play games, orchat with friends and family. Hence, WeChat shaped the interpersonal, emotional,cognitive and commercial behaviors of the dual migrants. The vernacular func-tions afforded by WeChat provided them with solidarity, conviviality, cognizance,and monetization (Figure 2).Association and connectivity were represented by social ties and the informa-tion recreated by readers, predominantly by means of “comments” or “likes” fol-lowing published posts. WeChat’s group chat and Moments enabled comments onand responses to content, and they made users’ knowledge, preferences and com-munication network connections visible to other users. However, connections werelimited to the people on a WeChat user’s contact list. Therefore, the visibility ofthe user’s social networking on WeChat was lower than is the case with Facebook(Wang, 2016, p. 44). On the WeChat platform, information can be shared onlyamong WeChat friends. Harwit (2017) found that WeChat was a small group-ori-ented tool used to enhance trusted contacts among users. Consistent with thisaffordance, the usage of WeChat by the dual migrants was identified as a meansof building solidarity (i.e. bonding and maintaining social relationships) instead ofChinese Journal of Communication 387

making acquaintance with strangers. Specifically, WeChat was mainly adopted tobuild and maintain the dual migrants’ communication with family, laoxiang, andworkmates, rather than to make acquaintances with new people, such as localMacao residents.The participants’ use of WeChat changed according to their social network.For instance, they rarely used WeChat to call their parents in their hometown.One reason was that their parents often had “inherited” a phone from their son ordaughter, so it was not a smart phone that could be used for WeChat. Anotherreason was connected to their parents’ unwillingness or inability to use WeChatapps to send text messages or make audio-visual calls. However, the dual migrantsperceived that audio-visual calls and audio messages were more convenient andefficient than texting in chatting with close friends and organizing activities.Texting was reported to consume more time and energy by the participants whowere less adept in typing characters, especially when they were walking. Textingwas used more frequently in working group chats in which work-related issueswere the focus. In addition, some female participants whose children lived withtheir husbands across the border in China sometimes used WeChat to check child-ren’s homework, which was sent to them in the form of images.The second vernacular affordance of WeChat was conviviality, which wasshaped by editability and persistence. WeChat’s Moments afforded users the abil-ity to create, modify, or delete messages before they were viewed by others. Mostsaid that Moments was a “happy” place where they could share positive informa-tion and encouraging words rather than release stress and pain.Figure 2. Vernacular affordances of WeChat for dual migrants.388 Bei Ju et al.

This affective practice may seem contradictory to or only partially representa-tive of occurrences in the dual migrants’ everyday lives. However, it is in line withprevious findings in relation to hyper-personal affordances, in which computer-mediated users took full advantage of interface features, such as editability, tomanage personal language, sentence complexity, and relational tone, thus dynam-ically enhancing their online self-presentation; therefore, editing was found to be“related to mindfulness, and it resulted in greater message immediacy” (Walther,2007, p. 2552).In terms of persistence, WeChat Moments served this function. Using this app, thedual migrants posted photos and texts that could be reviewed even though the messagesenders had logged out of WeChat. Therefore, the “happy” messages that could beread at any time were conducive for receivers to form a positive image of the senders.Conviviality was an indicator of the dual migrants’ emotional well-being. Intheir “real,” offline lives, the problems faced by dual migrants (e.g. precarity, iso-lation, discrimination, and long working hours) meant that they were often vulner-able and faced difficult conditions. However, in the digitally mediated world, theycould take part in social exchanges, play online games, and send and receivemoney. The dual migrants shared the “bright side” of life through their messagesand posts on WeChat, which was perceived as the means of presenting and publi-cizing positive energy online. WeChat was considered a platform for reducing thestress and increasing the happiness of themselves and the people around them.Cognizance was another affordance of WeChat expressed by the dual migrants.The daily commute between Zhuhai and Macao opened a new door for thesemigrant workers, but it also generated challenges, such as the need to gain newinformation, acquire knowledge, and better understand the new environment.WeChat – notably official accounts – was a tool that made life easier. Registeredofficial accounts resembled mini-websites with columns that displayed a variety ofinformation. For instance, a time-saving trip could be planned by accessing real-time bus information, real-time videos of the border, and the latest immigration pol-icy news. Another example of the dual migrants’ use of official accounts was tolook for information that they needed or were interested in, such as informationabout jobs in Macao (e.g. 澳门劳务网) and house rentals in Zhuhai (e.g. 珠海同城).Regarding the monetization of WeChat, the dual migrants used the SNS tomake electronic financial transactions. The WeChat Pay and Alipay mobile pay-ment systems have created a cashless economy in China’s urban environments(Cheung, 2017). In partnership with third parties, WeChat offered conveniencessuch as mobile “top-ups” and bike sharing.Because of the relatively high prices, the dual migrants avoided making pur-chases in Macao. Instead, they preferred to buy everyday items in Zhuhai, payingvia WeChat Wallet by scanning a Quick Response (QR) code (or show the gener-ated QR code to vendors). In addition, in taking advantage of commuting acrossthe Zhuhai–Macao border, some earned extra money by conducting daigou busi-ness (Xie, 2018). Some dual migrants purchased items in Macao, paying withMacanese patacas (MOP), which are valued less than the Chinese yuan; theycharged their mainland customers for each item the same amount in yuan, thusmaking a small profit. Their customers were usually WeChat friends who thentransferred money via WeChat’s red packets or wallet functions. Their earningsthen could be deposited directly into a bank account through WeChat Wallet.Chinese Journal of Communication 389

This practice enhanced the commercial role of WeChat in the dual migrants’ dai-gou activities.These four affordances of WeChat were not exclusive. For example, the use ofred packets engendered solidarity, conviviality, and monetization, and they werewidely accepted and utilized, particularly during holiday and festival periods. Theywere an effective way to enhance sociability within a chat group. They could beconsidered as a means of promoting and sharing socialization; however, they werealso a form of monetization and socialized money.ConclusionThe lives of the Chinese mainland dual migrants who participated in the present studywere fully occupied by their work and their daily migration from Zhuhai to Macao.In Macao society, they had low social status and were often treated as outsiders.They voluntarily (but also necessarily) maintained their distance from Macao society.However, the portable mobile phone had created a new communicative space forthem. The effects of ICT, particularly in the move from provider-generated to user-generated content, profoundly affected their sociocultural activities and relationships.Their use of WeChat helped the Chinese dual migrants overcome the limita-tions imposed by the geographical, cultural, economic, and social boundaries ofthe host environment. Sahoo and De Kruijf (2016) suggested that online inter-active platforms should be explored as “crucial additions to the instrumentariumof connectivity of contemporary migrants and diasporas” (p. 6). Regarding theirdaily online activities, the dual migrants identified WeChat as their major mobileSNS, which had become an inseparable part of their lives both interpersonally andinstrumentally. All the mainland Chinese dual migrants who participated in thepresent study used WeChat to seek communal support from family and friends,thus gaining a sense of happiness and belonging. They often read and posted posi-tive messages via WeChat to gain the energy required to continue their struggleagainst exhaustion. They also took advantage of WeChat and their daily migra-tion to acquire new information and improve their living circumstances. Their reli-ance on WeChat helped them to overcome the challenges of their migration andto feel more comfortable in the new environment.The affordances of social media, as represented by the use of WeChat,offered the dual migrants solidarity, conviviality, cognizance, and monetization.In their digitally mediated lives, they were willing to engage in social interac-tions, but they also remained distant from local Macao residents. They usedWeChat to satisfy their emotional, cognitive, and commercial needs instead of adigital tool for acculturation in a new environment. Therefore, based on ourfindings, the vernacular functions afforded by WeChat and associated onlinepractices constituted a coping strategy. These findings indicate that these affor-dances are used to cope with the difficulties that characterize the lives of Chinesemainland dual migrants.AcknowledgmentsWe thank Dr Tony Schirato and the anonymous reviewers for their insightful commentsand useful suggestions.390 Bei Ju et al.

Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.FundingThe work was supported by the United Nations University under Grant [#9332].Notes on contributorsBei Ju (PhD, University of Macau) is a researcher at the United Nations UniversityInstitute on Computing and Society, in Macau SAR, China. Her research interest isintercultural communication, ICT, and migration. Her work has appeared in China MediaResearch, the Journal of Pragmatics, the International Journal of Business and Management,and in the book, Communicating User Experience.Todd L. Sandel (PhD, University of Illinois) is an associate professor in the Department ofCommunication at the University of Macau, SAR, China. He is also editor-in-chief of theJournal of International and Intercultural Communication. His research, which has beenpublished in China (Journal of Intercultural Communication Research and Journal ofPragmatics), examines how migrant communities and individuals use and create messagesusing social media and how they are shaped culturally.Hannah Thinyane (PhD, University of South Australia) is a principal research fellow at theUnited Nations University Institute on Computing and Society in Macau. Her researchfocuses on ICT in development and human–computer interaction, particularly the use oftechnology to enhance the agency of victims of human trafficking. Her research has beenpublished at the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) and inthe Journal of Computers & Education, the British Journal of Education Technology, andComputational Economics, among others.ReferencesAdey, P. (2017). Mobility (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.Berry, J. W. (2010). Mobility and acculturation. In S. Carr (Ed.), The psychology ofmobility in a global era (pp. 193–210). New York, NY: Springer.Bourdieu, P. (1983). Economic capital, cultural capital, social capital. Soziale-Welt,Supplement, 2, 183–198.Boyd, D. (2010). Social network sites as networked publics: Affordances, dynamics, andimplications. In Z. Papacharissi (Ed.), Networked self: Identity, community, and cultureon social network sites (pp. 39–58). New York, NY: Routledge.Breitung, W. (2002). Transformation of a boundary regime: The Hong Kong and MainlandChina case. Environment and Planning A, 34(10), 1749–1762. doi:10.1068/a3566Bucher, T., & Helmond, A. (2017). The affordances of social media platforms. In J.Burgess, A. Marwick, & T. Poell (Eds.), The Sage handbook of social media (pp.233–253). London, UK: Sage.Cao, H.Y. (2013, November 7). 雙城打工記：澳門內地勞工生存狀況調查 [A tale ofworking in two cities: An investigation of mainland Chinese labor migrants in Macao].Retrieved from http://waou.com.mo/detail.asp?id¼74183Carr, S. C. (2010). Introduction: The psychology of global mobility. In S. C. Carr (Ed.),The psychology of global mobility (pp. 1–19). New York, NY: Springer.Cheung, R. (2017, September 3). China’s mobile payment systems put to the test on a cash-free day out in Shenzhen. South China Morning Post. Retrieved from https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/2109293/chinas-mobile-payment-systems-put-test-cash-free-day-out-shenzhen.Chinese Journal of Communication 391

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