'I can express My Feelings with Just a Tweet': Language, Emotion, and the Digital Divide among Immigrant Families in Italy

This chapter discusses how language, ICTs and migrant backgrounds intersect with affective ties among migrant families in a relatively recent immigration country such as Italy. The use of technology in a migratory context could aggravate distances between generations, disrupting continuity in the affective language between parents and children. Drawing from more than 80 interviews with parents and young adult children of Moroccan and Peruvian immigrant families, composed of two generations living in Italy, the chapter also examines to what extent the lack of cultural capital and low investment in understanding the function of ICTs in children’s lives are two key issues that help to explain why interactions between parents and children in a migratory context are increasingly marked by emotional distance.