Norms and practices of searching for and finding marriage partners online in Chechen and Ingush communities in Europe

In migration studies, marriages have been interpreted in terms of the mediation of absence and intimacy through new information and communication technologies (NICTs). This study examines the digital factor and questions its impact on the construction of a normative script for meeting partners, focusing on individuals within a migration context. To analyse the choice of partners online, we have focused on Chechen and Ingush communities in Europe in general and in France in particular. Based on offline and online observations and interviews conducted between 2022 and 2025, we propose a broader interpretation of the use of ICT, showing that digital tools transform social ties as much as they preserve them.