Intercultural friendship on Facebook : A qualitative study of the communication process between exchange- and host students

The purpose of the study is to investigate the communication between exchange students and their host student trough Facebook. The study shows the importance of social cues and self-disclosure to maintain a relationship. The students’ everyday use of Facebook helps them to remain connected to their social life locally and create new friendships. Cultural differences were shown in the way the students formed their expressions trough their messages to each other. Although the cultural differences weren’t that big, the students understood the context of being in contact with a person from another cultural background. The students thought the cultural differences weren’t anything of importance, the main reason to communicate though Facebook was to understand each other no matter the cultural context. To have an intercultural friendship on Facebook can help the students to have a contact network outside their own country. The two research question for this thesis are following: - How can communication between exchange students and host student’s intercultural relationship be interconnected trough Facebook? - How does the intercultural friendship on Facebook affect the exchange student and host student’s communication process? The answer showed that through Facebook there is a common culture, which the group of students has created. In this way the study also shows that the students got trust in Facebook of the creating and maintaining of an intercultural friendship.