Telling my baby's stories: family communication and narrative practices of young mothers living abroad

This study investigates the motivations of using rich-media forms of computer-mediated-communication (CMC) tools among young mothers living abroad to maintain ties with their geographically-separated families and friends. Our research involves sixteen Malaysian young mothers living in the United Kingdom, most of them dealing with the challenges of juggling work or studies and taking care of their babies. We investigate the digital records and family communication practices as well as motivations that underlie the use of CMC to create baby stories and narratives. Our results highlight the value of technologies to share and have access to the quotidian experiences at each side of the globe and to the baby's life. We discuss the implications of these results for the designing of future rich-media types of CMCs to capture narratives.