Abstract:  This study explores how digital communication technologies and informal actors facilitate and shape the communication and network development that support Syrian refugees in navigating integration in the Netherlands. It examines how digitalization introduces both opportunities and challenges in addressing language barriers, cultural differences, and bureaucratic procedures. Drawing on semi‐structured interviews with 14 Syrian refugees and six Arabic‐speaking mentors on whom they relied for support, the study demonstrates the significance of digital technologies and social networks in helping refugees navigate the increasingly digitalized Dutch welfare state and foster new social connections. The findings highlight the potential of platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook groups, and other online communities as dynamic tools for facilitating access to institutional information and for establishing both online and offline social networks. These networks are essential for building trust, which in turn supports the provision of translations, information verification, and navigation of digitalized procedures. In addition, the results show that offline interactions with mentors and intermediaries offer translated content and culturally contextualized guidance that further enhances integration. Overall, the study conceptualizes integration as a relational process shaped by the interplay between online and offline interactions.

Keywords:  digital tolos; digitalization; media literacy; mentors/intermediaries; misinformation and migration; social media; social networks; socio‐economic inclusion; Syrian refugees

Published:   15 January 2026

Issue:   Vol 14 (2026): Digitalization and Migration: Rethinking Socio-Economic Inclusions and Exclusions (In Progress)