Discussion & Conclusion section of Research Paper
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Esther Fu
English 202A
The Significance of Social Media for International Students
1
Background
Nowadays, a large number of international students visit the United States to obtain professional education by diversifying social life across the country. The topic of the significance of social media for international students is currently central due to widespread social media across society and the entire world.
Importance & Reasons
As an international student, I can personally feel and gain many benefits from social media. It is the form of possibility for maintaining communication with families and discovering new friends represented by American students.
For both foreign and domestic students in the United States, social media has substantial importance, however, different groups of students use social media for diverse purposes.
Importance & Reasons
Additionally, social media is a central method for international students in their conversations with family members. It is much easier reached them through online media compare to expensive transoceanic calls. Therefore, international students use social media not only share their daily events for entertainment but more importantly to communicate with relatives and loved people from different corners of the world.
Previous Study...
A professor Paul Wolansky at the Dodge College of film and media arts at Chapman University mentioned that approximately a third part of the students who were attending his classes were international students, many of them were people from China (Semotiuk 2018). American students support international colleagues via social media channels by providing with the most necessary information for lectures. Social media offered a chance for international students to learn about this educational institution and apply to Chapman University. The example illustrates the importance of social media as a chain between overseas learners with the United States, and the amicable collaboration across students from different countries.
Hypothesis
My working hypothesis is that social media use has a significant positive influence on social support and adjustment of international students living in America.
I believe that the use of social media platforms improves the social relations and support of the students as well as enhances their process of social adjustment in their new location.
Research Method
Survey & Interview
I will use interviews and surveys to collect data for the study. The participants will be international students who study in America. The focus of the study will be to understand the social relations that the international students nurture through social media platforms and the role of such media in their perceived social support and adjustment.
I will ask them to give information on the frequency of their social media use, motivation, and the role of the platforms in shaping their social interactions and engagement.
Limitation...
Since I hypothesize that most international students use social media platforms for similar reasons, my major concern is achieving repetitive findings.
However, I will try to include international students from different locations with the hope of getting less monotonous results.
Survey
How long do you spend on social media per day? Less than 30 min/ Less than 1 hour/ About 2 hour/ More than 3 hour
Frequency of using social media apps on mobile phone every day? Less than 3 times a day/About 5 times a day/About 10 times a day/As much as I want to check
What is your favorite social media networking service? (Short answer)
Have you tried living without the social media? Yes / No
How long have you been persisting? Less than 1 day/ Less than 3 days/ About a week/ Other
How long can you be away from the chat apps? Less than 1 hour/ Less than 3 hour/ More than a half day / More than 1 day
Do you think social media is important to you? In what way?
What role does the social media play in the international students’ live in your opinion?
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Text message
Video call
Voice message
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“WeChat seems to be the only social media I have with my friends. Even when no one sends me a message, I still habitually check WeChat maybe every ten minuets. Sometimes I will continue to refresh my friends circle page and feel anxious if there is no new shares.”
“During my first year studying in the United States, I used WeChat to make voice or video calls with my mother almost every day. Transoceanic calls are very expensive! I felt that on one are here for me. Basically, I keep in touch with family and friends in China through WeChat, and I didn’t have new friends since I did not want to make friends.”
“Most of the friends I know here are still Chinese, so we are still using WeChat in out daily life.”
“I do not have a Facebook account. I talked to American classmates about classwork through Groupme or Whatsapp.”
“I like Instagram very much. I have many American friends and international student friends who are followers on this platform. I enjoy sharing my life through Instagram, or getting to know the life of my American classmates. We often comment to each other.”
Do you think social media is important to you?
A: “Social media helped me in a major way to adapt and learn about the culture that I‘m living in. There is a lot of help I gained from Facebook to learn about the American culture to stay with the main events having in this country.”
B: “My social media did help me adapt with people over here because coming from a different culture, I didn’t know what people are going to be like over here. So, when they would talk about things that are recent over here and this is how we do it in America, I didn’t exactly copy the thing. I’m like, Oh this is how people talk about, this is how people do things over here. So, that is how it helped me get familiar with the culture over here and get to know people.”
C: This is what I do, I just stay home with my phone with my computer and this is my social life -- my social media.
Conclusion
I found that moving to the United States and starting academics is a tough experience at first for most international students.
Social media provides an opportunity to connect to people who are either American or from your own country.
Social media help international students to start their live here in a way that a little bit less threatening socially.
A lot of international students use social media to understand American culture and make friends with local students.
Therefore, I think social media is very valuable.
Conclusion
Any Questions?
