Babel or great wall: Social media use among Chinese students in the United States

Shaoke Zhang, Hao Jiang, John M. Carroll

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

We investigated how social media support the acculturation process for an expatriate group: Chinese students in the United States. We interviewed 20 participants and found that 1) students extensively used Chinese social media to maintain their original self, especially through social bonding and information surveillance activities, while facing culture shock; 2) social media were also critical in helping students assimilate into their new (American) culture, through affordances for scaffolding, bridging, and surveillance; 3) the use of social media across the acculturation process is evolving in the context of the changing ecology of social media. This study expands existing HCI work on inter-cultural communication and collaboration activities toward consideration of acculturation strategies, online support for identity, and designing for individual development.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationSIGDOC'12 - Proceedings of the 30th ACM International Conference on Design of Communication
Pages37-45
Number of pages9
DOIs
StatePublished - 2012
Event30th ACM International Conference on Design of Communication, SIGDOC 2012 - Seattle, WA, United States
Duration: Oct 3 2012Oct 5 2012

Publication series

NameSIGDOC'12 - Proceedings of the 30th ACM International Conference on Design of Communication

Other

Other30th ACM International Conference on Design of Communication, SIGDOC 2012
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySeattle, WA
Period10/3/1210/5/12

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Computer Networks and Communications

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