Somalisnaps uses social media to inform and comfort community

Neal Justin, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Jan 21, 2026

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MINNEAPOLIS — When filmmaker Abdi Mohamed wanted to debunk rumors that Somalis didn’t care about Renee Good’s death, he knew just where to go.

His video of Somalis distributing free sambusas and chai to ICE protesters got more than 4,200 likes on Instagram after it was shared on the account Somalisnaps, the Minneapolis-based marketing account that aims to unite and inform East African immigrants around the world.

“It’s the go-to spot for our community,” said Mohamed, who is also a communications specialist at the University of Minnesota and curates cultural events across the Twin Cities. “It’s a source in this time of desperation for setting the record straight.”

The platform, which also posts on TikTok and Snapchat, was founded in 2019 by Mohamed Jedi, an IT specialist who originally wanted to create an online gathering place where fellow Somalis could swap jokes, share memes and plug events.

The project became more news driven in 2020, after George Floyd’s murder. Then ICE arrived. In the past 10 days, Somalisnaps has added 60,000 followers on Instagram, bringing its total to more than 175,000. Its TikTok account boasts more than 116,000 followers.

“People are confused, people are worried,” Jedi, 36, of Minneapolis said on Jan. 15. “They’re scared and can’t go to work, so they’re turning to social media.”

You can find nonpolitical content at Somalisnaps, like clips of Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou bonding with his son, and singer Kiin Jaamac performing at the Amaal Event Center in Minneapolis. But the vast majority of recent postings are self-produced clips of immigrants confronting ICE officers, responding to identification checks with unfiltered language.

Jedi and his two partners, who are based in Ohio and Somalia’s capital city of Mogadishu, try to verify as much as they can, but a few of the contributions, like a wild story about President Donald Trump’s past, seem dubious.

“At the end of the day, we are human beings,” said Jedi, who moved to Minnesota six years ago from California. “If we post stories that are incorrect, we try to correct them right away.”

Those who want to reach the Somali community for business purposes, like selling insurance and real estate, are charged a fee for being on Somalisnaps, but most of the roughly 400 contributors over the years post for free. It’s become a way for Jedi to give back to those reeling from recent events.

“We have a mission to connect Somalians and be a bridge of love,” he said. “We give a little voice to a community that seems to have no voice.”

Jedi, who prefers not to share his picture, thinks a lot about making the world safe for his 6-year-old son.

“He has cousins who are a little older that joke around that ICE is going to get him,” Jedi said. “He then comes to me crying. ‘What are they talking about?’ ”

Jedi knows he’s making a difference when he hears from followers like the young woman who called him last week. She had emigrated from Somalia and was having problems sleeping.

“She told me that she had come here looking for the American dream, but now was getting the same feelings she had back in Somalia,” Jedi said. “People like that are really grateful we exist. They always say, ‘Thank you for sticking up for us.’ ”

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