ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the role of digital media in the everyday lives of diasporic communities, focusing on how gendered interactions through these platforms shape their sense of identity and belonging in the context of migration. It looks at how digital technologies help build online support networks, maintain gendered connections, and address the intersectional challenges faced by those on the move. The discussion begins by exploring how digital media overcome the barriers of time and distance, allowing people to preserve kinship ties, experience diasporic co-presence, and foster emotional belonging. The chapter also highlights the specific struggles of marginalised groups, such as migrant mothers, unaccompanied minors, non-binary and LGBTQI+ individuals, and refugees from the Global South, who face gendered and social inequalities in both their home and host countries. Finally, it considers how digital media can both empower and reinforce the social inequalities that these communities endure. Following this chapter, Maya Aziz critically explores problematic portrayals of migrants in European media and advocates for collaborative storytelling that challenges silencing and stereotypes, with a focus on gender and agency.
