‘ Use my Experience to Your Advantage ’: The Agency Behind TikTok Portrayals of the Migration Journey Through Darien Gap

As migration routes and flows shift over time, so do the digital platforms through which migrants communicate and seek information. Among TikTok's billions of users, some individuals have shared footage of their crossing through the Darien gap between Colombia and Panama, offering a never-before-seen perspective to the 160 km jungle. This article explores TikTok's role as a tool for migrants to share unfiltered experiences and navigate the hardships of their journey . Through a comparative ethnographic content analysis (ECA) of 66 TikTok videos and, 7373 comments, this article proposes an original methodology seldom applied in migration research by prioritising migrant voices as a counter-space that actively resists those actors speaking for them. A thematic comparison between migrant-made videos with non-migrant-made videos considers how the latter accentuates narratives of suffering and victimhood; whereas migrant-made videos curate their content to provide practical information to support other migrants, grounded in their personal experience. The themes within migrant-made videos, together with their comments, construct a digital environment conducive to resisting flattening narratives through tools such as empowerment, community building, and practical information sharing. This article contributes beyond a methodological scope by acknowledging how migrant-made videos point to information individuals are seeking concerning their journey: an epistemological gap that, by filling it, could prove conducive to migrant protection strategies. It concludes that the decisive factor between agency-driven versus victimhood-centred content is the storyteller. This article endorses the prioritisation of migrant voices to respond to their requests and steer migration strategies towards a genuinely safe migration.