The Impact of Social Media on Intercultural Adaptation

Social media has become increasingly popular components of our everyday life in today’s globalizing society. It provides a context where people across the world can communicate, exchange messages, share knowledge, and interact with each other regardless of the distance that separates them. Intercultural adaptation involves the process of promoting understanding through interaction to increase the level of fitness so that the demands of a new cultural environment can be met. Research shows that people tend to use social media to become more integrated into the host culture during their adaptation and to maintain connections to their home countries. This paper attempts to investigate the impact of using social media on the intercultural adaptation process. In-depth interviews of international students of a U.S. university are conducted. Based on the results of the analysis, directions for future studies in this line of research are also discussed