The Role of Social Media Content in Migration Aspirations: Mixed-Methods Evidence From Two Senegalese Regions

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.