The Ways International Students Use Social Media during Their Mobility
Due to the long distances and high costs, in the past studying abroad was a great challenge, however recently it has become more available, because of different scholarships, internationalisation of higher education, global connectedness and more accessible information sources. Social media not only helps to access this information but also serves as a tool to connect with other people. In the case of international students, on the one hand, it opens the doors to easier and more convenient methods with family members and friends in the home country. On the other hand, it creates ways to connect to other students and find helpful information, which makes it easier to integrate into the host country.
The study employs qualitative research methods, specifically semi-structured interviews with 50 students from China, Japan, and Vietnam enrolled in Hungarian universities. Preliminary data suggest that many of these transnationally mobile students connect daily or weekly with their family or friends in their home country through social media, but it is controlled by them, they are the ones, who initiate calls and send pictures. However, due to technical difficulties, this connection in the families often only with parents, neglecting the older generations.
In terms of the receiving country, students are often part of different group chats that help them in everyday life, especially connected to their university activities, but not limited. Some participants noted, that part-taking in these online groups enabled them to advance in other areas of their lives; such as finding a job or an apartment.