04.04.2019

What do Europeans think about migration online and offline?

04.04.2019, Presentation and Discussion, 10h00 – 12h30

People look at data on their mobiles, Picture taken May 30, 2018. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration

How is migration discussed across Europe? Has the 2015/2016 refugee “crisis” changed the attitudes of Europeans towards migration? Is Europe really more divided on this issue? What role do social media platforms play? Are there pan-European debates or do conversations tend to take place in isolated communication spaces? These questions are the focus of two comparative research projects commissioned by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung which will be presented at this event.

The first report is an EU-wide social media analysis on migration carried out by Bakamo Social, and is the first of its kind covering all EU member states. The report analyses actual discussions on social media about migration recorded over the course of a year. A second report by sociologists Vera Messing and Bence Ságvári, which is based on the latest data from the European Social Survey, shows the extent to which Europeans’ attitudes towards migration changed between 2002 and 2017, especially before and after the events of 2015/2016.

Contact: Marco.Funk(at)fes-europe.eu