From Aspirationsto Vulnerabilities:Social Media andBangladeshi Women’sLabour Migration

This article investigates how social media is represented in policy, academic and institutional discourses as a mediating force in Bangladeshi women’s labour migration. Employing a critical interpretive synthesis of secondary studies and reports, it examines four dimensions: social media’s role in shaping migration aspirations, recruitment mediation, the empowerment–vulnerability paradox and implications for digital migration governance. The study reveals that algorithmically amplified success narratives conceal structural risks through‘algorithmic optimism’ about migration outcomes. A hybrid recruitment ecosystem, combining formal platforms and informal brokers, allows women access to overseas jobs while leaving intermediaries unregulated, creating anempowerment–vulnerability paradox, where transnational solidarity coexists with fraud, exploitation and surveillance. The article critiques state-centric migration governance, arguing that transnational platforms bypass national regulatory frameworks and exposing structural gaps in existing policyarchitectures. To foster safe migration for Bangladeshi women, this article advocates for digital migration governance incorporating algorithmic accountability, cross-border online recruitment controls and inclusive digital literacy initiatives. Based on secondary and institutional sources, it contributes anintegrated analytical framework connecting platform governance, gendered migration infrastructure and feminist political economy.