Date of Award

12-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Degree Statement

Master of Arts in Professional Communication

Department

Department of Communication

Granting Institution

University of Alaska Fairbanks

Committee Chair

McDermott, Victoria

Committee Member

Hernandez, Leandra

Committee Member

Diaz, Eduardo

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction. Chapter 2: Literature review.

2.1 Study system

2.2 Power

2.2.1 Power and race

2.2.2 Summary

2.3 Latin American immigration in the United States

2.3.1 Perceptions of Latin American immigrants

2.3.2 History of Venezuela, Colombia, and the U.S. intervention: contemporary histories

2.3.3 Immigration as politicized/polarized

2.3.4 Challenges, opportunities, and myths for immigrants in the United States

2.3.5 Summary

2.4 Social media

2.4.1 Influencers on social media

2.4.2 Immigration influencers

2.4.3 Summary

2.5 Narrative theory

2.5.1 Hero journey

2.5.2 Hero journey narrative arch

2.5.3 Summary

Chapter 3: Methodology.

3.1 Researcher's reflexivity

3.1.1 What is qualitative research

3.1.2 Critical paradigms

3.1.3 Researcher positionality

3.2 Data collection

3.2.1 TikTok

3.2.2 Video criteria

3.3 Thematic analysis of data

Chapter 4: Findings.

4.1 Hero journey narrative

4.1.1 Emotional hero journey

4.1.2 Spiritual hero journey

4.1.3 Economic hero journey

4.2 America as a land of opportunities: pursuing the American dream

4.3 TikTok as a tool for sustenance and survival

4.4 Stereotypes

Chapter 5: Discussion.

5.1 Campbell's hero journey

5.1.1 Types of hero journey

5.1.3 Spiritual hero journey

5.1.4 Economic hero journey

5.1.5 Implications of a hero journey narrative, power, and colonialism

5.2 Elements of wealth

5.3 Discussions of race and opportunity

5.3.1 America, the land of opportunities, or American exceptionalism

5.4 Media as the "contemporary" form of colonialism

5.5 TikTok as a tool of sustenance and survival

5.6 Limitations and future research

Chapter 6: Conclusion

References.

Abstract

The use of social media platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook has expanded beyond their original roles as spaces for connecting with friends and accessing entertainment to play a more significant role in people's everyday lives, serving as vital sources of information and influencing public opinion. As such, this research investigated the phenomenon of Latin American Immigration Influencers (LAIIs) on TikTok to better understand how they discuss their lives as immigrants in the United States (U.S.). Guided by the research questions (1) What are the narratives communicated by LAIIs on TikTok related to immigration to the U.S., and (2) How do these narratives portray the opportunities and challenges in the U.S. related to immigration, the qualitative thematic analysis of eleven LAIIs (n=110 videos) identified that LAIIs often use the hero journey narrative to discuss their immigration journey through emotionality, spirituality, and wealth that resulted in self-transformation after arriving to the U.S. LAIIs also perpetuated narratives about the U.S. as the Land of Opportunity and reinforced stereotypes in the U.S. about Latin American (LATAM) and stereotypes in LATAM about the U.S. Finally, LAIIs discuss TikTok as a tool for sustenance and survival. From these findings, the researcher argues that the narratives communicated and the underlying messages portrayed by LAIIs on TikTok perpetuate the Coloniality of Power and Eurocentric legacies of hierarchies of power through colonialist conceptions of race, knowledge, and labor that may play a role in how viewers, especially those in LATAM, may make sense of their lives and the perceptions of the immigration journey to the U.S.

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