Social media networking is a not a recent addition to the lives of expatriates, they are probably amongst the earliest users of all these new communication platforms. Social Media has been playing an huge role in the lives of Expatriates since the beginning. With a computer and an internet connection, one can research their next location and connect with people even before getting there.
There are many ways you can use social networking to ease your overseas move — before, during and after. Besides the obvious sites like Facebook and Twitter, there are lots of social networking sites, expats and future expats can take advantage of.
Here is a quick list of some of them:
- Internations.org defines itself as The Community for Expatriates and Global Minds. This is probably the most up-to-date community with thousands of members per country. Their forum section is also well attended by expats all around the world. There is a free part of the site and members-only.
- ExpatsBlog.com is one of the latest community of expat bloggers and has various sections, a forum, a writing contest and the country awards for popular bloggers in each country.
- Boomers Abroad. Geared toward baby boomers, this site promote itself as “the Expat and Future Expat Online Community. Meet, contact, connect, network,…with others that already live abroad and with those that would like to live abroad. Ask, learn, share with us your experiences.”
- Expat Forum is supposedly the largest online community of people who have either moved abroad or are planning to. There are forums for a long list of countries, as well as articles and news.
- Go South Expat is a social site dedicated exclusively to living in South America. News, forums, blogs, and an ezine cover. What’s quite interesting with this site is that you can create a mini site password protected to your self and your invited guests.
- Gringos.com – Gringos community is a resource for a new life in Central or South America.
- Expat Focus “aims to make life easier for anyone moving or living abroad by being the most comprehensive information and support resource for expatriates on the Web today.” It provides destination information, opinions and advice from experienced expats on the ground, forums, and even a podcast. Their country list is extensive and worldwide.
- Expat Exchange has “been helping expats navigate international relocation and the phases of culture shock”.
- Expat Blog is “the living abroad website, by expats for expats.” They offer information and advice on most countries on every continent. Their forums, organized by country, include discussions and classified ads.
- Expat Forums is a bulletin board site. The list of countries is limited, but if you’re interested in Australia, Canada, Dubai, Japan, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UK or the US, you’ll find some value here.
- The Expat Directory has a forums section. However, I personally find the site a bit off-putting as it’s filled with advertisements.
- Live Mocha is a language-learning site that calls itself “the world’s largest language-learning community.” It gives you the opportunity to connect with native language speakers in the countries you’re interested in. It’s a great chance to make friends with future neighbors who are interested in learning your language.
- MFE – Maison des Francais a l’Etranger – is a website on Expatriation for French people. It is very complete and also has a forum.
These are not the only sites for expats, there are many more and I’ll be updating the list on a regular basis.
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Sabine PanneauSkype: sabp23
Email: sabine@sabinefep.com
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