Home, Yet Not Quite Home: Social Media Use, Identity, and Resilience Among the Young Descendants of Turkish Labour Migrants in Germany

This study examines how young descendants of Turkish labour migrants in Germany use social media to negotiate identity, acculturation, and self-representation. Mixed-methods data from focus groups (n = 32) and an online survey (n = 117) indicate that most participants articulated bicultural or hybrid identities. They described social media as a space where online and offline contexts converge, using it primarily for communication, information, and entertainment. They engaged with politics but seldom expressed their views publicly. Participants’ experiences of perceived discrimination revealed a communicative pattern combining integrative belonging, structural critique, and strategic communication, referred to here as Critical Integrative Resilience.