Asylum-Related Migrants’ Social-Media Use, Mobility Decisions, and Resilience

Abstract

The article examines asylum-related migrants’ social-media use along their asylum journeys. In total, 2,454 migrants from 37 countries answered a semistructured survey conducted in Jordan; Turkey; Iran; and in the European “hotspots,” Lesvos, Greece, and Lampedusa, Italy. Of the respondents, 83% used at least one social-media service in their current locations, 55% acknowledged that social media makes their asylum-related life easier, and 51% responded that social media helped them decide where to move to in Europe. Migrants’ socioeconomic and demographic differences, social capital, and future views explain their social-media use in relation to their mobility decisions and resilience.