More and more people are creating content on social media about their migration experiences.
Have you ever learned about how to adjust to cultural differences, immigration laws or bureaucratic systems and then wanted to share your advice with others? Perhaps even on social media? Then you wouldn’t be alone – more and more people are creating content on social media about their migration experiences.
In this episode, Silindile Mlilo speaks with Masoud Kianpour about his research on who he calls, “migrant micro-influencers”, whose content on YouTube, TikTok and other social media platforms targets new or perspective immigrants to Canada.
To be honest, listening to their conversation really made me curious if I, as an immigrant living in Germany, have been missing out on social media “migrant influencers” – maybe I can still learn from them!
Masoud speaks with Silindile about how “migrant micro-influences” can start to become “life coaches” for their diasporic communities, and the difficult position that they can find themselves in, when it comes to commenting on politics. They also discuss the relevance of social media influencers for policymakers and other more “traditional” players in migration systems.
Masoud Kianpour is a Senior Research Fellow at the Global Migration Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University. He is a cultural sociologist and qualitative researcher, and he studies popular culture, the sociology of emotions, intercultural communication, mental health, and the impact of digital technologies on cultural narratives.
During the episode, you will also hear a few clips from social media influencer Max Medyk. He grew up in Ukraine and lives in Canada, and he regularly posts content relevant to immigrants in Canada on his social media platforms.
Masoud would like to thank Morteza Shams (research assistant and collaborator) and Anna Triandafyllidou (Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration, at Toronto Metropolitan University).
His study is part of the Migrant Integration in the Mid-21st Century: Bridging Divides research program, which is funded by the Government of Canada through the Canada First Research Excellence Fund.
https://www.torontomu.ca/bridging-divides/research/research-projects/citizenship-and-participation/learning-in-the-wild-behaviours/
Further reading:
Kianpour, M., Shams, M. (2026) “From Newcomers to Life Coaches: The Emergence of Micro-Influencers in Canada’s Immigration Ecosystem.” Int. Migration & Integration. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-026-01385-y
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