My research and community work are driven by a commitment to enhance mutual understanding among people amids the increasingly polirized times. I focus particularly on comprehending intercultural relations in Finland, drawing insights from my research, the lived experiences of my extensive network, and my own journey as a comparative migrant who has become rooted in the local context while valuing my minority status since birth. Whether within the diaspora or in broader society, I advocate for more constructive interactions, inclusion, and cooperation, addressing factors that both hinder and enable, including media and policies.
In my role as a postdoctoral researcher, I am currently leading a research project titled 'Social Media Crossroads: Navigating the Russia-West Divide,' supported by the Kone Foundation. Prior to 2020, Russian speakers in Finland demonstrated a noteworthy inclination towards non-Russian news media sources, embracing a bi-cultural orientation rather than an isolative one (Khalimzoda and Siitonen, 2022). However, this scenario is evolving in correlation with the geopolitical landscape, witnessing a surge in (counter) disinformation that has turned social media into a volatile arena of conflicting war opinions, often marked by divisive positioning and othering. In response to this context, my study utilizes positioning (Moghaddam & Harré, 2010) and gate-keeping (Shoemaker, 2008) theories to examine the practices of positioning, othering, and gate-keeping. The focus is on the three most debated topics: 1) Western sanctions against Russia, 2) Finland's economic downturn, and 3) political discourse on Russia since the onset of the war in Ukraine.
