The impact of social media on international students: cultural and academic adaptation

Newly admitted international students always experience a certain period of discomfort as a result of the strangeness of the culture of their new environment. This discomfort is often traced to their cultural differences with the host country where they will have to spend a certain number of years as a student. This will require them to adapt both academically and culturally. In this regard, it is suggested that Social Networking Sites (SNS) be employed as cultural and academic adaptation tools due to its inherent power to allow members of the same or diverse cultures to interact, interrelate, build friendships and relationships, irrespective of their geographical backgrounds. Specifically, participating in social media can help students to engage in online with virtual communities as a way of knowing more and getting accustomed to the new culture that they are being exposed to and subsequently, instrumental for better academic performance. This study focuses on the international students of Universiti Utara Malaysia where 352 students were randomly selected to analyze the impact of the usage of social media by the international students and how it helps them to adjust culturally and academically. Firstly, this study explores gratification factors for Facebook. Secondly, it explains how different usage of Facebook may influence the cultural and academic adjustment of international students. Thirdly, the findings show that cultural adaptation through SNS is not statistically significant. Accordingly, recommendations are offered to ensure that the Facebook technology is effectively utilized for cultural adaptation. In addition, some limitations of the study are addressed