Reproductıon Of Desıre: Overuse Of Socıal Medıa Among Syrıan Refugees And Its Effects On The Future Imagınatıon
Reproductıon Of Desıre: Overuse Of Socıal Medıa Among Syrıan Refugees And Its Effects On The Future Imagınatıon

Author(s): Barış Öktem
Subject(s): Media studies, Migration Studies, Asylum, Refugees, Migration as Policy-fields
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: Syrian refugees; social media; refugee camps; misperception; desire;
Summary/Abstract: Social networking sites (SNSs), especially nowadays, have become an inevitable and essential component part of life (Schivinski & Dariusz, 2016). Even though there have been numerous researches and studies on the SNSs in relation to users’ tendencies and advertising, the use of social media in relation to effects of space and environment on the perception of users has been lacking in the literature. This paper offers a perspective to consider the interrelations between the use of SNSs among Syrian refugees with various purposes, such as navigating their migration routes and safety, and the refugee camps as a temporary habitat (Diken & Laustsen, 2002). While refugee camps do not provide enough spaces and activities for socializing and spending time, most Syrian refugees spend their time online by the use of social media platforms as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and WhatsApp. With long-term ethnographic fieldwork on the intense use of SNSs among Syrian refugees in the refugee camps in Turkey, Greece, and Germany created extensive data. The gathered data shows that being in a vulnerable position as a refugee and staying in a restricted and limited space motivates and encourages [Syrian] refugees to spend more time online. However, one of results of this research claims that seeking new places to migrate and settle in by overusing SNSs, at least 4-5 hours in a daytime, creates a desire and misperception regarding destinated places that become desired places (Deleuze and Guattari, 1983; 2013).

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