Abstract
Considerable research has focused on the important role of social media in migrant life. However, there is a lack of knowledge about how remote regional areas shape migrants’ use of social media, and whether social media can serve as a viable migrant support infrastructure in such places. We seek to help address this knowledge gap by investigating how social media platforms have enabled algorithmic care for migrants to Oamaru, a small service town on the south-east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. We develop an analytic of technology-mediated care as infrastructure in a tripartite relationship between people, place and platform to guide our examination of the small town migrant support ecosystem. A questionnaire survey of migrants and a community Facebook page have been the source of our data. We observe the important role played by social media platforms through the availability of emotional, informational and material support, and also how, over time, the community Facebook page has evolved into a self-organising and generative care infrastructure. The findings confirm that this form of platformised care is not placeless, but rather contingent on place-specific relations and responsibilities by bringing together migrants, host communities and small town institutions. Social media facilitates the practice of both self-care and caring-with others, enabling migrant and host community interactions and cultural competency building, as well as addressing pre-existing migrant support deficiencies in small towns.