The Role of Social Media Content in Migration Aspirations: Mixed-Methods Evidence From Two Senegalese Regions
Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: How does the viewing of social media content produced by Senegalese migrants residing in Europe correlate with migration aspirations of people in Senegal? We answer this research question by interrogating original survey data from two regions in Senegal, Dakar and the Casamance, as well as original interview data of (potential) Senegalese migrants, repatriates, migration experts, and stakeholders. Using a mixed-methods approach that combines our qualitative interview and quantitative survey data, we provide robust evidence that viewing more social media content produced by compatriots in Europe coincides with stronger migration aspirations among respondents in Dakar and the Casamance. We also shed light on potential mechanisms. Here, our findings suggest that viewers of social media content by Senegalese migrants in Europe express higher admiration for migrants, consider the migration journey to Europe to be more viable and expect life in Europe to be especially rewarding. Our findings are in line with the cognitive migration model, which posits that migration aspirations are shaped by the potential migrants’ mental time travel to an imagined future abroad. We argue that browsing social media content produced by Senegalese migrants residing in Europe creates particularly positive notions about migration and life in Europe, fueling migration aspirations by facilitating and making the cognitive migration of people in Dakar and the Casamance especially appealing.
Source: International Migration Review
Authors: Daniel Meierrieks, Julia Stier
Institution: WZB Berlin Social Science Center
Language: English
Topic: Migration and Labor Dynamics
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,650
Award: G177967995
OpenAlex ID: W4414596477