Who are we looking for?
Any person who is currently an expat, expat-turned-immigrant, repatriate, adult Third Culture Kid, or other expat-adjacent role may be a curator. We know that “expat” can be a loaded term. At the Expatriate Archive Centre (EAC), we aim to include as many people as possible: we define “expatriate” as anyone who lives temporarily in a country other than their “home” country, regardless of the reason you live abroad. The notable exception is anyone considered a refugee; refugees are forced to move from their home and are a legally protected class of people.
You can also consider donating materials — diaries, blogs, photographs, etc. — that documented your time abroad to the EAC. You can read about what the EAC collects and from whom here.
What do curators get out of it?
Curating @WeAreXpats is an opportunity to tweet about what matters to you.
@WeAreXpats is also a unique opportunity to participate in a long-term research-based initiative. As communities have created new ways to communicate and express themselves, expats have been at the vanguard of adopting media to keep in touch with loved ones back home, connect with new friends in new places, and make their voices heard on a global stage. In response to these new trends, archives worldwide are considering and innovating new ways to preserve and archive 21st-century materials, like those found online and in social media. The tweets from @WeAreXpats will be archived at the Expatriate Archive Centre, an independent international archive based in The Netherlands that preserves material documenting the expat experience worldwide.
What do we need from curators?
To provide the audience some background or context, we ask that you write a few sentences about yourself to be shared here on the website. Tell us about where you’re from, where you live, and what being an expat means to you. And don’t forget to prepare a profile photo for Twitter!
Once you are curating, we appreciate your best efforts to tweet in English… but feel free to teach your audience some words or phrases from your native or local language!
We respect your autonomy as a curator and hope that you respect others as well. Disagreement is fine, but civil discourse is required. Similarly, please be mindful that you tweet as an individual, not as the representative of a company or organisation; this account is not to be used for marketing but for your own thoughts and opinions. Dissemination of disinformation, racism, sexism, homophobia nor transphobia will not be tolerated.
We appreciate your contribution to expats’ digital lives, and your willingness to keep it real!