The Markup together with The Guardian features an interesting story about how TikTok helps to spread misleading narratives to Senegalese migrants about how to live a new life in New York City.
Documented spoke with five Senegalese men who migrated to New York City in the past year who said that TikTok played a significant role in their decision to make the arduous journey to the U.S. Like thousands of other migrants who have made their way to the U.S. from China, Latin America and West Africa, these five men were inspired by testimonials from other migrants they saw on TikTok about their journeys to the city. And like many other migrants, they were frustrated that the hardship they faced in the U.S. stood in stark contrast to the optimistic videos that inspired them to make the journey.
Interesting (and painful) to learn that social media are playing such a huge role in the age-old “bright lights, big city” dynamics of media as ‘pull’ factors in urban migration. Media representations of city life embody the hopes of newly striving migrants. The big difference of course is that now there exists this whole industry of producing and spreading misleading social media videos, paid for by smugglers, as the article notes. TikTok has become an essential ‘infrastructure’ for migrants to navigate their way around in the new city. But so far it fails to acknowledge that this role also comes with responsibilities.