Paper short abstract:

Based on qualitative research online and on-site among Russians living in Bulgaria the paper aims to elucidate the issues of the current migration by looking at specific online strategies of communal adaptation. The question remains – is this a real adaptation or a strategic avoiding of it?

Paper long abstract:

The paper based on qualitative online and on-site research aims to present an understudied topic in Bulgarian (and wider) context. As it comes to Russians in Bulgaria, there are several defined “waves” of migration with different socio-economical, historical and political motivations until the EU accession of the latter. Nevertheless, the one developing in the past decade under the changed conditions provides with a different migrant profile. These are predominantly young people in their 20s and 30s who have grown tired of the dissatisfying state of their country as it comes to the quality of life (food, ecology, politics, etc.). As a result, they have decided to move to the Bulgarian seaside (or other cities) to enjoy the good weather, better food, but also cheap flights, approachable travelling conditions, better future for their children, who are to grow as legitimate European citizens. What separates them from previous migrant generations, nevertheless, is the fact that they often choose to move to the country despite not having any “network” of acquaintances and/or family. This, in turn, serves for the accumulation of new strategies of adaptation among their communities and groups, namely the online “instructions of use” of the everyday life in Bulgaria, published predominantly by Russian women on social media (Instagram, Facebook). But what is the state of their adaptation? Do they feel and act as equal Bulgarian citizens or do they create in turn closed microsystems resisting the foreign atmosphere culturally and even economically using “life cheat sheets”?