Crossing the gain line: Migration, sport and national belonging on Facebook

Hosting the Rugby World Cup in 2011 offered a chance for New Zealand to showcase itself on the world stage, but also provided immigrants to the country an opening to assert their legitimate place in the nation. We present the particular case of Leslie, a Filipina migrant, and her Facebook activities during the tournament. Approaching these texts through the frameworks of liminality and timescale-differentiated identity construction along with Social Actor Network Analysis, we unravel the discourses of national belonging facilitated by the interaction of social media and a sporting mega-event. Our analysis shows that Facebook’s semiotic affordances, interconnectivity and ability to bridge time and distance allowed Leslie to be part of the collective by performing an emerging identity as a New Zealander. As a result, she transcended the identity of being an other in New Zealand to – at least for this period – take on one of national belonging