Studying global diasporas via social-media-driven sampling: practical considerations

This paper addresses the methodological challenges of surveying migrant populations – a hard-to-reach group due to limited sampling frames, small population sizes, and multi-sited data complexities. Using Meta’s platforms, Facebook and Instagram, we explore the potential of social-media-driven survey sampling (SMDS) for reaching migrants. Our contribution is threefold: first, we review strands of social-media-based survey research and situate migrant-focused studies within this literature. Second, drawing on a study of Nigerian expatriates across 11 countries, we offer six key practices for enhancing recruitment: assessing feasibility through reach estimates, establishing credibility via institutional affiliation, customizing advertisements to connect with subgroups, engaging a target-group moderator, maintaining communication and transparency, and assessing and improving representativeness. Third, we draw on both qualitative and quantitative evidence from our study to illustrate how these practices operate. Our findings suggest these practices can improve recruitment success in migrant-focused SMDS studies and offer practical guidance relevant to similar hard-to-reach populations.