Social Media in the Diaspora: An Exploratory Approach Towards Identity Formation of the Iranian Diaspora

Following the death of Jina Mahsa Amini at the hands of Iran's morality police, Iranian diaspora communities in Europe and around the world mobilised to raise awareness of ongoing political oppression in Iran. Despite the shutdown of internet access within the country, these communities engaged in performative acts, social media activism, and street demonstrations in an attempt to rectify problems in their homeland. To further explore the potential of digital media in shaping diasporic identities, this paper’s emphasis is on the role of social media in facilitating alternative modes of political engagement and community building regarding the Iranian diaspora. Re-enactment, re-emergence, and re-evaluation of Iran's situation became a practice for constructing an alternative narrative for the ongoing political movement. This practice was carried out within the context of the Iranian diaspora's exile and displacement. Through an analysis of diaspora-generated media objects, such as protest art and online activism campaigns, this paper demonstrates how Iranian diaspora communities are utilising digital media to create new spaces of belonging and political agency. Inspired by Homi Bhabha's concept of the "third space", the analysis of the Iranian diaspora identity formations as they negotiate the tensions of displacement and the search for belonging, contends that the diaspora's sense of identity is shaped not only by the historical traumas of displacement but also by their engagement with digital media as a means of producing a transnational public sphere. Overall, a contribution to a deeper comprehension of the complex relationship between diaspora identities, political resistance, and digital media in the context of ongoing political oppression is the focal point.