The temporal identity work of digitally connected migrants: A study of young Syrian migrants in Sweden

Abstract

This study examines how the social media practices of acculturating migrants are integral to their temporal identity work and experiences of self and belonging. Based on 30 interviews with Syrian migrants who arrived in Sweden between 2015 and 2017, our analysis identifies three temporal identity practices: restoring lifelines, adapting to dual timelines, and compartmentalizing life and self. Migrants use social media to sustain continuity with their past, navigate between cultural timelines, and curate distinct digital personas for different audiences. These practices help them cope with temporal dislocation and experiment with new forms of self-expression, but they also generate feelings of inauthenticity and guilt. Beyond the migrant context, the study contributes to research on digital identity work by moving beyond platform-centric perspectives and showing how multiple, lived temporalities are reproduced and experienced in everyday life, both on- and offline. It also extends research on identity fragmentation by demonstrating that fragmentation arises not only from conflicting norms and self-presentations across platforms and time, but also from temporal disjunctions such as unsynchronized rhythms, conflicting time orientations, and fragmented timelines. This broader view is crucial for understanding the conditions and consequences of temporal identity work in today’s fast-moving and fragmented social environments.

Introduction

The large-scale displacement of refugees across Europe over the last decade has not only forced millions to leave their homes, families, and friends but has also disrupted their plans for the future, with cherished memories of their homeland overshadowed by traumatic experiences. This has compelled millions to find ways to relate to their ‘past life’ while simultaneously orienting themselves in a new present to create new plans and dreams (UNHCR, 2018). Mobile technologies and specifically, social media have been acknowledged as vital means to navigate this process and to repair, maintain, or revise constructions of selves (Marino, 2015; NurMuhammad et al., 2016; Udwan et al., 2020). Much of the existing research has focused on how mobile technology and social media assist in bridging spatial distances and cultural divides. For instance, it has shown how migrants use smartphones and social media to keep in touch with their family and friends from their home culture (Borkert et al., 2018; Diminescu and Loveluck, 2014; Udwan et al., 2020; Vancea and Olivera, 2013) and to learn about their host nation, accelerating their integration (Alam and Imran, 2015; Andrade and Doolin, 2016). Notably, the influence of mobile technology and social media in managing and shaping temporal relations and tensions has received limited attention (Baas and Yeoh, 2019). This is the overall gap we aim to address. Our research focuses on how the social media practices of acculturating migrants are constitutive of their temporal identity work (Flaherty, 2003) and integral to their experiences of selves and belonging.

Our study is based on interviews with 30 young Syrian migrants who arrived in Sweden between 2015 and 2017, most under 30. Examining social media and temporal experiences in their identity formation is valuable for several reasons. First, identity is central to acculturation, as migrants navigate between their culture of origin and the host culture (Berry et al., 2006; Phinney et al., 2006). Second, while social media helps migrants shape and maintain identities, it also presents difficulties due to online surveillance by members of their home culture (Marder et al., 2012; Yau et al., 2019). Lastly, as part of the social media-native generation, these migrants transition into adulthood with user-generated content archived online, forming life logs that document their growth. This temporal heritage can create identity and self-presentation challenges (Brandtzaeg and Chaparro-Domínguez, 2020; Brandtzaeg and Lüders, 2018).

Theoretically, our study is situated at the intersection of three research areas: migrants’ digital identity formation (Marino, 2015; Udwan et al., 2020; Yau et al., 2019), the temporalities of migrant lives (Clayton and Vickers, 2019; Griffiths et al., 2013; Hughes, 2022; Terzioglu, 2023), and the temporality of social media practices (Coleman and Paasonen, 2020; Lohmeier et al., 2020). Our contribution lies in deepening our understanding of how migrants’ temporal identity work is shaped by multiple, overlapping temporalities reproducing both on- and offline. Drawing on research on identity dissonance and temporal collapse (Ayalon and Toch, 2017; Brandtzaeg and Lüders, 2018; Davis and Jurgenson, 2014), and the emotional experience of temporal multiplicity (Coleman, 2018a, 2018b; Lupinacci, 2022), we show how asynchronous rhythms, conflicting time orientations, and fragmented timelines disrupt migrants’ sense of temporal self-continuity. Our analysis shows that migrants navigate these disruptions through three distinct social media practices: restoring lifelines, adapting to dual timelines, and compartmentalizing life and self. In doing so, our study deepens our understanding of migrants’ identity fragmentation, showing that it stems not only from spatial distance, content, and role conflicts, but also from fundamental disruptions in how time is lived and experienced.

Literature review

From spatial to temporal dimensions of migrant identity work

Research on migrants’ use of digital technology has expanded in recent decades, highlighting how social media both enables and constrains information access, community-building, and identity formation (Alencar et al., 2020; Moran, 2022; Smets et al., 2020). By providing real-time updates, social media helps migrants navigate legal and logistical challenges, enhancing autonomy in decision-making (Moran, 2022). It also fosters coping strategies and resilience by sustaining transnational networks for emotional and practical support (Borkert et al., 2018; Merisalo and Jauhiainen, 2021; Udwan et al., 2020). This connectivity facilitates resource access, strengthens social capital, and eases integration (Dekker et al., 2018; Dekker and Engbersen, 2014).

Beyond offering practical support, social media also shapes identity and community relations (Yau et al., 2019). It enables migrants to negotiate cultural identities, pursue education, and maintain family ties, while balancing adaptation to the host society with ongoing connections to the homeland (Diminescu and Loveluck, 2014; NurMuhammad et al., 2016; Udwan et al., 2020). These platforms are especially vital for marginalized groups, offering spaces for belonging and legitimacy often denied in formal settings (Leurs, 2017). However, digital engagement also carries risks, such as reinforcing isolation, creating ‘virtual ghettos’ that hinder integration (Mitra and Evansluong, 2019), and exposing migrants to surveillance and self-censorship, particularly for vulnerable groups like LGBTQ+ refugees (Lunau and Andreassen, 2023).

Most research on migrants’ social media use focuses on spatial relations, emphasizing how digital platforms facilitate transnational connections and identity negotiation while maintaining cultural ties and supporting adaptation (Alencar, 2020; Diminescu and Loveluck, 2014; Moran, 2022; NurMuhammad et al., 2016). By creating digital spaces that transcend physical locations, migrants balance dual identities and a sense of belonging across homeland and host communities (Andrade and Doolin, 2016; Yau et al., 2019). While this research has advanced our understanding of migrants’ identity construction, it has largely ignored the temporal dimensions of these processes.

However, temporal aspects have been extensively explored in the broader stream of migration studies, with scholars highlighting how time is manipulated as a tool of power to control and marginalize migrants (Clayton and Vickers, 2019; Griffiths et al., 2013; Maury, 2022). Research has shown how temporal violence, including indefinite detention, bureaucratic delays, and prolonged waiting periods, creates a state of ‘temporal limbo’ that undermines autonomy and generates social exclusion (Bhatia and Canning, 2021; Griffiths et al., 2013; Hughes, 2022; Jacobsen et al., 2021; Terzioglu, 2023). Moreover, studies have examined how temporal uncertainties intersect with gender, race, and socioeconomic status, emphasizing the need to consider these intersections to fully understand migrants’ lived experiences (Hughes, 2022; Maury, 2022). Despite these valuable insights, most research has primarily focused on state-induced offline temporalities and the passive experiences of prolonged waiting, legal limbo, uncertainty, and temporariness, which contribute to social exclusion and precariousness (Clayton and Vickers, 2019; Griffiths et al., 2013; Terzioglu, 2023). What is often overlooked is the role of digitally connected migrants as active agents in shaping and producing temporalities both online and offline. By examining migrants’ engagement in temporal identity work (Flaherty, 2003), through their use of social media, this study challenges the dominant portrayal of migrants as passive subjects of state-imposed temporalities and instead foregrounds their active role in producing and navigating multiple, intersecting temporalities across online and offline contexts.

Social media and the temporality of identity work

Beyond the research on migrants, social media technologies have been extensively examined as platforms for identity construction and are widely acknowledged as important spaces where individuals engage in the ongoing process of creating, managing, and negotiating their identities (Bullingham and Vasconcelos, 2013; van Dijck, 2013; Zhao et al., 2008). A growing body of research has explored the temporal dimensions of social media usage, emphasizing the significant influence of time on how individuals engage with digital platforms, construct identities, and experience social interactions (Coleman and Paasonen, 2020; Lohmeier et al., 2020). Within this broader context, we point to two strands of research that not only inform our approach but can also be enriched by the insights of this study.

The first stream focuses on how temporal affordances of social media shape individual identity work (Birnholtz and Macapagal, 2021; Choi et al., 2020; Cirucci, 2023). Research has examined how temporal affordances such as ephemerality, persistence, and synchronicity shape identity construction and self-presentation. Ephemeral platforms like Snapchat and Instagram promote more spontaneous and authentic identity expressions due to the temporary nature of posts. In contrast, platforms with permanent content, such as Facebook, foster more curated and strategically managed identities (Choi et al., 2020). This is consistent with Ayalon and Toch’s (2017) findings, which show that younger users often adjust their sharing practices over time, coming to see earlier posts as out of step with how they now define themselves. Further expanding on this theme, Brandtzaeg and Lüders (2018) introduced the concept of ‘time collapse’, which underscores how social media platforms blur the boundary between past and present, complicating users’ efforts to maintain a coherent identity over time. The archival features of platforms often create tensions between past and present selves, disrupting self-coherence as users navigate conflicting identities (Schoenebeck et al., 2016; Zhao et al., 2013). These findings illustrate the complexities of temporal identity work in digital environments, as individuals must continuously negotiate the interplay between self-presentation and the temporal affordances of the platforms they use.

A second research stream that we have identified as relevant for analyzing our migrants’ experiences is the research focusing on how temporal multiplicity is reproduced and experienced in everyday life (Barassi and Zamponi, 2020; Birnholtz and Macapagal, 2021; Choi et al., 2020; Cirucci, 2023; Lohmeier et al., 2020; Lupinacci, 2022). Extant research has explored how time, especially the present, is experienced and constructed in everyday life through mediated interactions, emphasizing how digital platforms create overlapping and sometimes conflicting temporalities (Coleman and Paasonen, 2020; Jordheim and Ytreberg, 2021; Keightley, 2013; Weltevrede et al., 2014). Studies have also revealed how digital media not only structures time but also deeply affect how people emotionally experience temporal multiplicity in everyday life (Coleman, 2018a, 2018b; Jacobsen, 2024; Lupinacci, 2022; Stage et al., 2020). While these studies have explored how social media, viewed as an environment rather than discrete applications or affordances, shapes users’ experiences of immediacy, ephemerality, and simultaneity (Coleman, 2018a, 2018b; Lupinacci, 2022), they do not specifically address how these temporal experiences intersect with identity work and the sense of social inclusion and belonging. In other words, the role of digitally and offline-produced temporal experiences in shaping identity work and feelings of inclusion and belonging remains under-theorized.

Method

Data collection

The data collection was part of a larger study on Syrian migrants’ journey to Sweden and their integration (Göransson et al., 2020; 2025; Hultin et al., 2022). Our data for this article consists of 30 interviews conducted between 2018 and 2019. All interviewees fled from Syria to Sweden in 2015–2017 and were between 19 and 29 years old at the time of the interviews (except for two participants who were 40–45 years old). Sixteen of the interviewees were female, and 14 were male. Most of the interviewees originally came from urban, middle-class backgrounds, and several had left Syria early during the civil war, in 2012 or 2013, with others having left later. Most of the interviewees were in their late teens or early twenties and several were studying in their final year of high school. Their religious and ethnic backgrounds varied. Both Christians and Sunni Muslims and Arabs and Armenians, were among the interviewees. All of them spoke English, and some had gained fluency in Swedish. They lived in different parts of Sweden, with most living in Stockholm and the Lake Mälaren region, with its large population and proximity to the authors’ places of residence and work.

We focused on interviewing younger migrants because they are in a formative stage of identity development, making them particularly well placed to show how digital and social media shape self-narratives during key moments of acculturation. Moreover, young individuals who have grown up using social media must navigate not only the complexities of cultural integration but also the lasting impact of digital traces from their past. The blurring of lines between present and past self-narratives on social media can create tensions and conflicts between different self-versions (Brandtzaeg and Lüders, 2018; Marder et al., 2012; Yau et al., 2019). For young migrants, these challenges are further amplified as they adapt to new cultural norms and expectations (Berry et al., 2006; Phinney et al., 2006).

To recruit participants, we drew on the second author’s extensive network developed through volunteering and teaching. He contacted young Syrian migrants in Sweden via teaching connections, social media groups, and referrals from respondents across 12 cities. The first and second authors then worked together to develop and refine an evolving interview template. The second author conducted all interviews, with ongoing discussion and support from the first author, who also participated in two interviews. Sessions, lasting 30–90 minutes, were conducted in English or Swedish. All interviews, except two, were recorded and transcribed.

Data analysis

We started our data analysis with initial coding based on the empirical content of the responses using codes like ‘Syria’, ‘escape’, ‘friends’, ‘family’, ‘language’, and ‘job’. To create thematic clusters within larger coded segments, we employed subcodes such as ‘Syria Friends’, ‘Friends Communication’, and ‘Family Sweden’. This phase reflected our focus on relational identity work and the emerging interest in migrants’ temporal experiences. Key codes included ‘Identity’ (for self-identification statements), ‘History’ (for discussions about the past), and ‘Future’ (for future thoughts or plans), each with further subcodes like ‘History Sweden’, ‘History Communication’, ‘Future Education’, and ‘Future Jobs’.

In the second coding round, we delved deeper into the interplay between migrants’ self-identity in Sweden and their perception of time. We aimed to pinpoint interview segments that articulated migrants’ self-conceptions (past, present, and future) and their temporal experiences. For segments linking migrants’ discussions about aspects like future jobs to their self-image, we prefixed empirical codes with ‘Identity’, such as ‘Identity Future Jobs’. This approach allowed us to see how migrants’ identities were closely bound up with their experiences of time. This phase highlighted the central role of mobile technology, particularly smartphones and social media, in shaping migrants’ relationships with their past, present, and future. Our coding process evolved to identify how migrants used and experienced social media, with codes like ‘chatting’, ‘FB timeline’, ‘multiple accounts’, ‘time flying by’, and ‘fragmented time’. At this stage our reading of the literature on the temporal dimension of digital identity work (Coleman and Paasonen, 2020; Lohmeier et al., 2020) informed our analysis. Specifically, we saw the potential to focus on the lived experience of multiple temporalities produced across both online and offline settings (Coleman, 2018a, 2018b; Jacobsen, 2022, 2024; Lupinacci, 2022). Building on this literature, we refined our analysis by identifying three practices of temporal identity work through which migrants navigate and negotiate their identity formation (see Table 1). Each practice is constituted by particular social media practices and lived temporal experiences, illustrating how migrants’ engagements with and experiences of time are interwoven with their evolving senses of self. A more detailed discussion of these practices and experiences follows in the analysis below.

Table 1.

Temporal identity work practices among migrants

Temporal identity work practices	Restoring the lifeline	Adapting to dual timelines	Compartmentalizing life and self
Social media practices	Calling and chatting with friends & family in Syria	Observing how Swedish Facebook friends approach milestones like academic exams, marriage, and parenthood.	Sharing milestones significant to Syrian audience, such as academic achievements.
	Sharing stories, updates, photos of their daily lives with their friends and family in Syria	Curating past posts to align with their evolving identity narrative	Sharing culturally relevant content like Syrian music and events
	Using video calls and group chats to virtually participate in family gatherings and celebrations	Using the timelines of their FB friends to reflect upon the changes they have gone through	Creating new accounts to explore interests and connect with their passions and with people sharing their interests and passions.
	Following local Syrian events and festivals via live streams, shared photos and videos.
Lived experiences of temporal identity work	There is a single linear conception of time with which migrants may either synchronize or fail to align.	There are two parallel linear timelines that migrants may either synchronize with or fail to align with	Time and the self appears in disjointed, irregular, or disrupted segments
	Experience of a loss of situated presence in time and a sense of being outside their true time.	Experience of a parallel life trajectory, with which comparison generates a sense of possibility and change but also feelings of exclusion	Experience of time as disrupted and fragmented, with self-expressions becoming compartmentalized and abstracted.
	Experience of continuity: The experience of an unbroken and consistent existence of a self, flowing through past, present, and future.	Experience of gaining time: the sense of having more time to do the things they want to do in life	Experience of multiple selves, each with distinct opportunities for transformation and growth.
		Experience of owning time: the sense that they can decide how they want to spend their time	Experience of inauthenticity and guilt.
		Experience of losing time: time has passed quickly and with an intensity that makes them feel older than they are.

Findings

Restoring the lifeline

During the early stages of the refugee crisis, Sweden upheld an open asylum policy, granting permanent residency to all Syrian asylum seekers in 2013 (European Website on Integration, 2016). In response to the 2015 influx, it introduced the Municipality Assignment Act to distribute refugees more evenly, but smaller municipalities struggled with limited resources (Emilsson, 2018; Emilsson and Öberg, 2022), leading to temporary housing solutions like gym halls and shipping containers (Law Library of Congress and Global Legal Research Directorate, 2016). In the early years, asylum applications were handled relatively quickly. After 2015, however, growing pressure on the welfare system prompted a policy shift, with permanent residence permits increasingly replaced by temporary ones (Migration Policy Institute, 2016). As a result, many refugees faced prolonged waits, sometimes up to 10 months, for asylum decisions.

Our interviewees describe how the initial period of uncertainty in temporary accommodations was challenging, marked by feelings of emptiness, remoteness, and isolation. This sense of detachment led to boredom, anxiety, and, in some cases, depression. While some interviewees started school soon after arrival, others faced extended delays, leaving them with unstructured time and a profound sense of purposelessness. This experience was described as a timeless present or ‘limbo’, isolating the migrants from both their past lives in Syria and the new society around them. Yousef, who upon arrival lived with his family in a former school building, describes how the days passed in circles without any meaningful activity. He recalls that, like most of the others sharing the accommodation, he spent most of his time lying on his mattress with his phone at his side, waiting for news from the Migration Agency. As he puts it:

We waited every day and evening to get some letter or mail from the MV (Migration Agency). That's what life was there, nothing happened, just waiting. /Yousef

My life was still happening there, in Syria, so I felt very isolated. /Anwar

In this state of timeless and meaningless present, keeping contact with their friends and relatives in Syria was their primary way of creating a social context and a sense of meaning and hope. To uphold a continuity in these contacts, smartphones and apps such as WhatsApp, Viber, Facebook, and Skype constituted vital means. Migrants describe how they always kept their smartphone with them, always making sure to have an internet connection and to have vibration on in case someone at home’ (in Syria) wanted to reach them. These contacts constituted anchors in their new and uncertain environment and gave many the security, strength, and patience they needed to cope with the challenging circumstances. Anwar recalls how his body seemed to merge with his phone, sleeping with it on his pillow, headphones on for long Skype calls that sometimes left his ears aching. These digital connections, he explained, were the moments when he ‘felt alive’.

It meant everything for me when I first came here, it was just like everything I had. . . actually, I spent most of my time on Skype, just Skype with my friends a lot, like all the time, it's crazy, I would just, like, wait to go home and then start talking to my friends, yeah, it's just like the. . . like the real part of my life, the part that felt alive.

When first arriving in Sweden, many migrants turned to social media to share their stories and everyday routines with friends and family back home. Posting updates, photos, and short videos offered glimpses of their new surroundings and helped sustain a sense of continuity across the distance. In this way, online sharing kept them connected and gave the feeling that life was still moving forward, offering a digital refuge from the limbo of displacement.

When they weren’t posting or chatting, many migrants still turned to social media as a place to store and revisit their memories. Looking back at old photos, messages, and posts became a way of keeping close ties to Syria and its culture. Video calls and group chats let them take part in family occasions from afar, creating a sense of being there even when they couldn’t be. Some also followed local events through live streams, which helped them stay in step with the social and cultural rhythms of home.

In sum, many refugees arriving in Sweden find themselves caught between two timelines. On the one hand, they are faced with a new social and temporal environment; on the other, their emotional ties to Syria remain strong. For many, life still feels as if it continues back home, with their sense of time unfolding in a straight line anchored firmly in Syria. This creates a feeling of being outside their ‘true time’, disrupting temporal continuity and making life in Sweden feel like an interruption rather than a progression. To make sense of this dislocation, many turn to social media as a lifeline to their past (Lagerkvist and Andersson, 2017). Instant messaging apps like WhatsApp create a sense of simultaneity and real-time presence, while Facebook’s timeline functions as an archive, allowing participants to revisit their past whenever they wish. Together, this combination of synchronous connection and asynchronous engagement helps migrants weave a temporal narrative and sustain a sense of continuity that links Syria’s past to their present in Sweden.

Adapting to dual timelines

For many migrants, the rhythm and intensity of their relationships with their friends and family members still in Syria changed once they started school and became more immersed in their everyday lives in Sweden. Suddenly, their days were regulated by the school schedule: they needed to attend classes, do their homework, and engage in various social activities after school. Becoming synchronized with this sociotemporal coordination created a rhythm, focus, direction, and homogeneity in their lives that enacted a sense of inclusion and belonging.

. . .Suddenly you had a lot of work to do, not only at school with homework but you started going out with friends, becoming more social. It felt like life started again. /Nasreen

For the first time since I came to Sweden, I felt normal. No more waiting, I had something to do, I had friends, I was busy. . . /Raed

As migrants adjusted to the rhythm of school life, staying connected to their past became more difficult. Academic demands and new friendships left less time for constant contact, and some began silencing or switching off their phones. What had once been an intense lifeline to familiar worlds slowly gave way to more routine exchanges, often reduced to brief comments on Facebook posts. Amina, now in her third year at a Swedish high school, describes how her days revolve around schoolwork and new friendships, and how her bond with her best friend in Aleppo has shifted, something she reflects on with both sorrow and acceptance.

I mean, we comment on each other, like "I miss you" all that. But we don't talk much anymore. When we find time, we just comment on each other's pictures and stuff. /Amina

When the migrants discuss their lives in Syria, they portray a society with stringent norms governing expectations at various life stages. For instance, having a sizable circle of friends in youth, pursuing academic exams, and marrying to start a family, preferably at a young age.

Life was easier there. You didn't have to make as many decisions. You grew up on your farm, your dad worked, you went to school and met your friends, then you started a family yourself and became like your dad. . . /Halil

Like, I wanted to have a good education, and to be surrounded by good people and by my family, and get married, have kids, a little bit typical Syrian, but like, yeah. /Mariam

The escape to Sweden and integration into Swedish society represented for many an abrupt end to what they considered a relatively predictable life. They now had to understand and orient themselves around different conceptions of and norms about what constitutes normal, expectable timing and sequencing of life events. In this process, social media played a role in that it enabled the migrants to encounter a diverse range of life narratives from their host culture. Following people from various backgrounds and generations gave the migrants insights into different conceptions of timing and sequencing life events. Marwa, 20, who is considering continuing her studies at university, described feeling like ‘a digital spy’ when she began connecting with Swedish friends on Facebook. It offered her a window into local norms around milestones such as exams, marriage, and parenthood. She noticed, for instance, that many do not start university until their twenties, a realization that brought her relief and a sense of new possibilities.

If I never run out of Syria, I’ve never moved here, then everything would have been like. . . more planned for me there, but now like I’m here, and I’m. . . I’m still young, and I still can do, like, I still can start in the university, and for here, it’s very normal to start at this age, like I’m just twenty, so it’s not something very (awkward), like, (weird), so. . . yeah. /Marwa

Some interviewees express adapting to Swedish temporal norms as ‘gaining time’, perceiving them as less rigid than Syrian norms. This flexibility provides more options and time for diverse life choices, notably delaying marriage and exploring alternatives. Freed from the pressure to conform to a traditional life path, such as marrying early, interviewees feel they have gained the freedom to pursue other endeavors, like attending university. This sense of having gained time to choose different paths in life also includes a sense of owning one’s time. Many interviewees describe how their escape to Sweden and integration into Swedish society have given them new perspectives and developed their ability to reflect about how they use and want to use their time. This ability in turn has brought a sense of increased agency to pursue different life paths.

Some interviewees frame their adaptation to Swedish temporal norms as ‘losing time’, experiencing an accelerated maturation process due to war, escape, and integration challenges. Darya, now 18 and who came to Sweden at 16, describes how she navigates emotions and problems uncommon for her age group, and how the rapid exposure to new situations, challenges, and perspectives has left her with a sense of having lost valuable years of youth. This accelerated pace sometimes leaves her feeling alienated from the rhythms and content of the social life around her.

I have lived in four countries and I know so many things that makes me older than what I’m really am, it’s a problem because I feel so much like I just want to be a normal 18 years old, to not think that much about so many things. . . compared to my friends I have so much responsibilities. . . /Darya

Sometimes I look at the (social media) flows of my Swedish friends and feel so much older, like I’m jealous of them because their lives seem so easy. It’s just about friends and maybe sport. . . /Darya

Hanan, a 23-year-old student living with her family in a small town outside Stockholm, recalls an incident when relatives in Syria questioned her after she was tagged in a photo from her part-time job in elderly care, a type of work she and her friends in Syria would once have dismissed.

Some Syrians, for them helping people with cleaning or stuff like this, it’s a job for poor people, you know. . . It’s like, it’s not something so good to them, but for me, no, it’s like something, it’s a job, it’s very normal.

Notifications came late at night, and she lay awake weighing whether to respond before finally deciding to remove the tag from the photo. Since then, Hanan has become more cautious, often untagging herself if she fears content might provoke questions or criticism from her Syrian network.

In sum, we see how the migrants’ acculturation process includes a process of alignment with Swedish sociotemporal norms. However, adapting to this rhythm weakens ties to family and friends in Syria, reducing interactions to brief social media exchanges. This shift from deep synchronization to sporadic contact marks a gradual distancing from their past. Being exposed to Sweden’s more flexible timelines give some migrants the sense that they have ‘gained time’, opening up space to focus on education and careers without the same pressure to marry early. For others, the swift move from war to integration sped up their sense of growing up, leaving them feeling ‘out of sync’ with both their Swedish peers and their traditional Syrian community. Facebook’s timeline reinforced these dynamics: its normative kairological temporality encouraged reflections on life trajectories and adaptation to Swedish norms regarding the ‘right’ time to marry, graduate, or find a job, while its archival functions enabled migrants to curate their digital selves—archiving, deleting, or untagging posts to align different versions of the self with the expectations of specific audiences.

Compartmentalizing life and self

For some interviewees, the journey from Syria to Sweden and the process of integration has been so transformative that the idea of returning feels inconceivable. Expressing and experiencing authenticity in communication with friends and relatives in Syria becomes challenging due to the profound changes in their new lives. Bridging this gap to convey their true experiences is difficult. This struggle to express authenticity is also apparent in interactions with older friends or family members who fled to Sweden but maintain a more nostalgic orientation, seemingly not undergoing the same transformative process. Nour, for instance, who studies third year at high school while working part-time in a café, explained that her new daily routines leave little common ground to share with friends still in Syria. When she does reach out, she tends to keep conversations short and neutral, focusing mainly on work and school. As she puts it:

Basically, I still have one close friend left that I stay in touch with. But it is very selective. We talk maybe twice a year, and then we talk very generally and I don't usually say what . . . Like, even if it's something big, I don't usually say it, but I say "yes, I work, the job goes well" or "I'm studying and my studies are going well.’ /Nour

I have grown up here, so I have this lifestyle, I don't belong to that lifestyle, but my parents they still. . . like, they talk to their parents every day, with their sisters and brothers, and they are so like, their brain, it functions still that way, like, thinking of moving back to Syria when the war stops, they want to go on vacation there, they miss there, they just want to go and see our house there, our home there, but us, like me and my brother, no, we have completely changed.' /Hanan

To navigate the gap between their authentic selves and the expectations of Syrian friends on social media, many migrants practice a form of digital code-switching. They adjust their online presence by switching languages, posting culturally meaningful content, or highlighting activities that resonate with a particular audience. One participant, for example, avoided sharing photos from parties on Facebook out of concern about how relatives in Syria might react. Instead, she regularly posted Syrian music and cultural events, maintaining a connection that felt safer and more acceptable to that community. In doing so, she aligned her online persona with her Syrian audience, seeking recognition and validation. Another migrant strategically used Facebook to share milestones significant to his Syrian audience, such as academic achievements.

As migrants integrate into Swedish society, adopting new preferences, interests, habits, and life goals, many grapple with feelings of guilt and impotence. They feel saddened by the inability to share all their new experiences, as doing so might hurt or upset old friends. Alongside carefully curating their Facebook accounts, interviewees often create multiple social media accounts, particularly on Instagram. This strategy allows them to share different aspects of their lives with distinct people and groups. One account focuses on family-related content like pictures of siblings or birthday parties, while another showcases trips and events connected to their social or professional lives. Darya laughs as she admits that she sometimes takes pictures of her meals but saves them in a ‘secret album’ on her phone instead of posting them. This form of self-censorship is a way of coping with feelings of guilt and loyalty.

Yes, it's terrible, actually. I have been to a psychologist here many times, because I felt incredibly depressed that I can change nothing, and sometimes you also feel a little guilt. Because here we have it all. They have nothing at all. . . Even sometimes you can't show everything you do. For example, if I travel to another country I can't, for example, have photos showing nice places. So maybe I feel like they should be sad, that they may not be able to see

And yes, you can't. . . For example, if you cook, you cannot have a picture of food on Facebook, because some have no food at all. /Darya

The compartmentalization of migrants’ online presence into different spaces or ‘stages’ not only validates and preserves old identity narratives but also serves as a platform for exploration and self-expression. For instance, one interviewee, inspired by photographers on Instagram and YouTube, discovered a passion for photography. As he shared his work and received positive feedback, it became a significant form of self-expression. Another interviewee, Anwar, first encountered veganism at his Swedish school. Initially skeptical, he turned to Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook to explore plant-based lifestyles. As he learned more, he began using his accounts to advocate for veganism, sharing articles, statistics, and connecting with local vegans. Two years later, he credits this lifestyle with personal growth and a new way of expressing his identity across social contexts.

I’m very proud of what I did because that really helped me grow as a person, yeah, it helped me to not just speak someone’s else words, but to understand them, and put your identity into them.

In sum, we show how migrants compartmentalize their lives and identities to mitigate and manage the often painful contrast and psychological and social tensions between their past in Syria and their present in Sweden. Using the temporal affordances of social media, they archive, delete, or untag past posts to retroactively curate their digital timelines, aligning different versions of the self with the expectations of specific audiences. This fragmented self-presentation allows migrants both to preserve connections to their past and to experiment with new forms of self-expression in Swedish society. Yet, it also results in the experience of their lives and selves as divided into separate, non-linear segments in which the self becomes abstracted, appearing as multiple, context-specific subjects rather than a unified whole. This in turn, gives rise to a sense of inauthenticity and guilt, as the compartmentalization often means suppressing or hiding parts of their current life to avoid causing distress or misunderstanding among those connected to their past.

Discussion

The temporal identity work of connected migrants

Our analysis identifies three key practices of temporal identity work: restoring the lifeline afforded by the synchronous, ‘always-on’ connectivity of messaging apps, adapting to dual timelines afforded by the normative kairological temporality of Facebook’s timeline, and compartmentalizing life and self, afforded by the retroactive curation of Facebook timelines through archiving, deleting, or untagging past posts. Together, these practices (re)produce temporal experiences integral to how migrants perceive themselves in relation to both their home and host countries. Restoring the lifeline sustains continuity with Syria and counters the rupture of displacement; adapting to dual timelines reflects the tension of living across Syrian and Swedish temporal norms, with feelings of both ‘gaining’ and ‘losing’ time; and compartmentalization includes the experience of fragmented and non-linear self-conceptions that on the one hand create space for transformation but also evoke feelings of inauthenticity and guilt. By identifying these practices, the study contributes to research on migrants’ identity work (Andrade and Doolin, 2016; Diminescu and Loveluck, 2014; Moran, 2022; NurMuhammad et al., 2016; Udwan et al., 2020; Yau et al., 2019) by showing that migrants’ digital practices shape identity formation not only by bridging spatial distance and reducing structural constraints but also by reproducing temporal experiences that are integral to their sense of self and belonging. While previous research on migrants and temporality has primarily examined time through the lens of structural violence induced by immigration policies and bureaucratic processes, such as legal limbos, prolonged waiting, uncertainty, and ‘permanent temporariness’ (Bhatia and Canning, 2021; Clayton and Vickers, 2019; Griffiths et al., 2013; Terzioglu, 2023), our study shifts focus to how temporalities are actively reproduced, lived, and experienced in the everyday lives of digitally connected migrants.

Moreover, building on work on migrants’ fragmented temporal experiences online (Diminescu and Loveluck, 2014; Kok and Rogers, 2017; Marino, 2015), which has mainly examined temporal orientation and the challenges of maintaining social ties across past and present (Polivanov and Santos, 2020), we show how multiple temporal rhythms emerge through migrants’ digital interactions and sociocultural contexts, further complicating identity work. We highlight not only how migrants navigate and manage these experiences (Hughes, 2022; Maury, 2022), but also how they shape their sense of social inclusion and belonging.

Extending research on digital temporalities

By foregrounding the (re)production and lived experience of everyday multiple temporalities, our study also contributes beyond the migrant context to the broader research stream on the temporal dimension of digital identity work (Barassi and Zamponi, 2020; Birnholtz and Macapagal, 2021; Choi et al., 2020; Cirucci, 2023; Lohmeier et al., 2020; Lupinacci, 2022). We enhance this line of research by responding to calls for further studies of the reproduction of lived temporal experiences in the fluid, messy everyday life enacted both on- and offline (Barassi and Zamponi, 2020; Coleman, 2020; Lohmeier et al., 2020; Lupinacci, 2022). Previous research has examined the broader emotional impacts of multiple temporalities (Coleman, 2018a, 2018b; Lupinacci, 2022), showing, for instance, how digital platforms shape the ‘right time’ for memories to resurface, influencing emotional responses (Jacobsen, 2024) or contributing to well-being during serious illness (Stage et al., 2020). However, these studies often overlook how such temporal experiences intersect with identity work and social belonging. Our research fills this gap by showing how digitally connected migrants not only reproduce diverse temporalities in their on- and offline identity work, but also how these temporalities shape their sense of self and belonging. Across the three identity work practices identified in our analysis, migrants’ sense of self and belonging is closely tied to the temporal structures and experiences reproducing through both on and offline practices. Experiences of simultaneity and continuity were co-constitutive of experiences of security and coherence, while asynchronous timelines enacted experiences of distance and dissonance. Finally, fragmented and non-linear self-presentations created space for transformation but also left some migrants with a lingering sense of inauthenticity.

Finally, our study builds on research examining identity dissonance in digital contexts, which explores how conflicting norms, expectations, and self-presentations across platforms create psychological tension and fragmentation (Ayalon and Toch, 2017; Brandtzaeg and Lüders, 2018; Davis and Jurgenson, 2014; Polivanov and Santos, 2020; Schoenebeck et al., 2016). Our study extends this research by deepening the understanding of how qualitative temporal experiences reproduced in everyday life, both on- and offline, such as feeling out of sync with cultural temporal norms, sensing that one has gained or lost time in relation to peers, and enacting multiple selves, contribute to identity dissonance. While past research has shown how old digital content can conflict with evolving values, behaviors, or circumstances (Brandtzaeg and Lüders, 2018), we foreground how asynchronous rhythms, conflicting time orientations (e.g. differing life paces or expectations around milestones), and fragmented timelines create a disjointed experience of time that impacts migrants’ sense of self.

Conclusion

This study shows how social media practices are co-constitutive of the ways in which migrants work and experience their identities within multiple temporalities, from the real-time rhythms of social media to the sociocultural norms of host and home societies. While previous research has primarily focused on the structural temporal constraints that migrants encounter in the migration process, this study highlights the ways in which migrants actively live, reproduce, and experience time in their everyday lives, both on- and offline. The study specifically identifies three forms of temporal identity work: restoring the lifeline, adapting to dual timelines, and compartmentalizing life and self, each shaping migrants’ experience of continuity, opportunity, authenticity, and belonging as part of their identity formation.

Beyond the migrant context, our study contributes to the broader field of digital identity work by responding to calls to move beyond platform-centric analyses and examine how the reproduction of lived temporal experiences in the fluid, messy everyday life enacted both on- and offline is interwoven with our sense of self. Finally, the study further builds on research on identity fragmentation by showing that it arises not only from conflicting norms, expectations, and self-presentations across platforms and time (past and future), but also as a product of temporal disjunctions: unsynchronized rhythms, conflicting time orientations, and fragmented timelines. We argue that this expanded view is essential for understanding both the conditions and the consequences of temporal identity work in today’s fast-moving, fluid, and fragmented social and organizational settings.