Social Media, Diaspora Identity, and Belonging: Communication Practices of African Migrant Communities in Western Societies

Abstract

This review examines the ways social media mediate identity formation, transnational communication, and experiences of belonging among African migrant communities in Western societies. Drawing on an interdisciplinary narrative synthesis of scholarship published through 2019, it considers digital communication practices across diverse African diasporas, with particular attention to homeland relationships, online community formation, cultural self-representation and social exclusion. The review identifies social media as relational environments rather than merely technological channels: they enable migrants to maintain family ties, exchange practical information, circulate cultural memory and participate simultaneously in homeland and host-society networks. Digital storytelling and community interaction also support hybrid identities, intergenerational dialogue and collective responses to marginalising representations. These possibilities, however, remain unevenly distributed. Differences in affordability, digital literacy, language, gender, generation and migration circumstances shape access and participation, while online racism, surveillance, misinformation and competing transnational obligations can undermine trust and constrain self-expression. The reviewed literature indicates that online connections do not automatically produce social integration; their significance depends on the extent to which migrants can translate digital participation into recognition, support and meaningful offline relationships. The study concludes that diasporic belonging is dynamic, multilocal and negotiated through interactions between technological affordances and wider social inequalities. It recommends comparative longitudinal research across African communities and Western destinations, alongside participatory approaches capable of capturing private communication and marginalised perspectives. Community organisations and policymakers should prioritise affordable connectivity, culturally responsive digital literacy, accessible migrant services and protections against discrimination and exploitative data practices. Future investigations should also examine platform governance and emerging technologies without assuming that expanded connectivity necessarily yields inclusion.