Abstract
The ongoing wave of emigration since 2020 has drastically changed the demographic distribution, hence the ways of life, of Hong Kongers. Instead of a rupture with Hong Kong, a new connection with the territory is forged for the emigrants by digital means. Social media has enabled more than daily life communication between the diaspora and the remainers; it has also facilitated the imagination of a digital community. “Hong Kong” has transcended from the restriction of being a geographical location and become a locale – the agentic interactions taken place in Hong Kong have resulted in a nexus in which lives, knowledge and identities are all simultaneously embedded in double, if not multiple, transnational contexts.
Some of the most powerful shapers of this new transborder Hong Kong experience and identity are the YouTube influencers now residing in Taiwan, the UK, and Canada. Many of them include in their video contents introductions and comments on affairs both in Hong Kong and their host locations. In this paper, I will analyse some of their videos and explore the process and contents of the new transborder Hong Kong identity that they are participating in constructing. I will ask questions including:
What kind of frameworks and parameters of this new transborder identity of Hong Kongers in the digital space are being established? What are the ethical implications of speaking in absentia?
If the “Hong Kongers” becomes a transborder identity built on shared values and history, in what ways can the traditional aspects of situatedness and embodiment in an identity be addressed?
The process of building this new identity is undoubtedly fragmented rather than organised, and bottom up rather than assigned. In what ways do the agentic behaviours of the creators and consumers of these YouTube videos manifest themselves? How do they work with or resist the manipulation (if not determination) of algorithms?
Identity construction will be explored in this paper not only as a form of activism, but more importantly as a process of worlding. Digital technology will be discussed not as a condition of this identity, but as a constitutive element of it.
Some of the most powerful shapers of this new transborder Hong Kong experience and identity are the YouTube influencers now residing in Taiwan, the UK, and Canada. Many of them include in their video contents introductions and comments on affairs both in Hong Kong and their host locations. In this paper, I will analyse some of their videos and explore the process and contents of the new transborder Hong Kong identity that they are participating in constructing. I will ask questions including:
What kind of frameworks and parameters of this new transborder identity of Hong Kongers in the digital space are being established? What are the ethical implications of speaking in absentia?
If the “Hong Kongers” becomes a transborder identity built on shared values and history, in what ways can the traditional aspects of situatedness and embodiment in an identity be addressed?
The process of building this new identity is undoubtedly fragmented rather than organised, and bottom up rather than assigned. In what ways do the agentic behaviours of the creators and consumers of these YouTube videos manifest themselves? How do they work with or resist the manipulation (if not determination) of algorithms?
Identity construction will be explored in this paper not only as a form of activism, but more importantly as a process of worlding. Digital technology will be discussed not as a condition of this identity, but as a constitutive element of it.
| Original language | English |
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| Publication status | Published - 28 Nov 2024 |
| Event | International Symposium on “Eco-Mobilities: Kinopolitics and Kinopoetics in the Anthropocene” - Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong Duration: 28 Nov 2024 → 30 Nov 2024 https://hmw.hkbu.edu.hk/event/international-symposium-on-eco-mobilities-kinopolitics-and-kinopoetics-in-the-anthropocene/ (Conference website) https://hmw.hkbu.edu.hk/assets/HKBU_sym_2024_Prog_2pages.pdf (Conference program) https://hmw.hkbu.edu.hk/assets/HKBU_sym_2024_abstract.pdf (Conference abstract) |
Symposium
| Symposium | International Symposium on “Eco-Mobilities: Kinopolitics and Kinopoetics in the Anthropocene” |
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| Country/Territory | Hong Kong |
| Period | 28/11/24 → 30/11/24 |
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