Purpose

Helping others use information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as mobile phones, can be beneficial for individuals and communities. In urban refugee communities, displaced and living far from home, collective behaviors with mobile phones can generate a sense of belonging. The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential for these offline behaviors to generate a sense of community among urban refugees.

Design/methodology/approach

Using quantitative evidence, the authors examined the relationship between collective behaviors, such as sharing or helping with a mobile phone, and sense of community. The authors analyzed survey data collected from urban refugees in Rwanda via multiple regression to test hypotheses related to the impact of collective behaviors on sense of community, as well as the mediating role of ICT self-efficacy and gender.

Findings

The findings suggest that collective behaviors with mobile phones have a positive relationship with sense of community, driven primarily by providing assistance as compared to sharing. ICT self-efficacy was positively related to sense of community. However, collective behaviors' impacts differed by gender, suggesting that social dynamics influence this relationship.

Originality/value

While the extant literature highlights the various roles of mobile phones in refugees' lives, less is known about the social aspects of use and its potential to help overcome isolation by fostering a sense of community. The authors extend this literature to a novel context (urban refugees in the Global South), testing a model that incorporates other factors that may play a role (e.g. self-efficacy and gender). These findings are valuable to urban refugees, due to difficulties in re-building a sense of community and increased ICT access.

中文翻译：

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探索信息和通信技术集体行为与社区意识之间的关系：城市难民分析

目的

帮助他人使用信息和通信技术 (ICT)，例如移动电话，对个人和社区都是有益的。在城市难民社区，流离失​​所和远离家乡，使用手机的集体行为可以产生归属感。本文的目的是探索这些线​​下行为在城市难民中产生社区意识的潜力。

设计/方法/方法

使用定量证据，作者检查了集体行为（例如分享或帮助使用手机）与社区意识之间的关系。作者通过多元回归分析了从卢旺达城市难民收集的调查数据，以检验与集体行为对社区意识的影响以及 ICT 自我效能和性别的中介作用相关的假设。

发现

研究结果表明，与分享相比，手机的集体行为与社区意识有积极的关系，主要是通过提供帮助而不是分享来驱动。ICT自我效能与社区意识正相关。然而，集体行为的影响因性别而异，这表明社会动态会影响这种关系。

原创性/价值

虽然现存的文献强调了手机在难民生活中的各种作用，但人们对使用手机的社会方面及其通过培养社区意识来帮助克服孤立的潜力知之甚少。作者将这些文献扩展到一个新的背景（全球南方的城市难民），测试了一个模型，该模型包含了可能发挥作用的其他因素（例如自我效能和性别）。由于难以重建社区意识和增加 ICT 接入，这些发现对城市难民很有价值。