Social Media & Abroad

By Savannah Lamas

Background O Social media can benefit abroad

students experience, acting as a blog for places students are traveling

O Negative aspect is that students can miss a lot by worrying about their social media platforms

O Students can also be too attached to things going on at home via social media, which could stop them from being able to enjoy their experience

Research Objective

O Do social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, FaceTime, etc.) take away from abroad students ability to immerse themselves into another culture?

O My objective is to learn if socialmedia helps or hurts a young persons abroad experience.

Methods:O Quantitative Research- “Data-led

approach which provides a measure of what people think from a statistical and numerical point of view.”

SurveyO Surveyed 50 people anonymously

O Online survey via SurveyMonkey

O 10 questions for abroad students only

Survey QuestionsO How often do you use social media when at home?

O How often do you use social media abroad?

O Have the types of pictures and media you post different while abroad?

O Do you feel homesick when seeing posts and pictures from friends at home?

O Do you think you are missing out on seeing and appreciating the culture around you because of social media?

Survey Questions Cont.

O Do you think social media enhances your appreciation for the culture around you?

O Do you think you have checked your social media more or less during your time abroad?

O Do you use social media abroad for yourself to have as a blog or for your followers to keep up with you?

O Do you think social media helps you stay in touch with friends and family at home?

O Do you think social media enhances or hurts your abroad experience?

Survey ResultsO 64% or 32 peopleanswered Yes

O 28% or 14 people answered Somewhat

O 8% or 4 people answered No

Survey ResultsO 62% or 31 peopleanswered Yes

O 20% or 10 people answered The Same

O 18% or 9 people answered Less

Survey ResultsO 14% or 7 peopleanswered Yes

O 20% or 10 people answered Somewhat

O 66% or 33 people answered No

Results Cont.O Ultimately 56% of people surveyed

said they were missing out on appreciating the culture around them because of social media

O However, 80% of people surveyed said social media helps them stay in touch with friends and family at home

ConclusionO Based on my results, I found that social

media holds abroad students back from becoming immersed in their new cultureO Students are stuck at home because of

pictures and posts from friendsO Students become more active on social

mediaO Students miss out on seeing what is

around them because they are glued to their phones

O Positive feedbackO Students are able to easily stay in contact

with family

LimitationsO Some students do not have proper

Wi-Fi or data plans to use social media platforms when traveling

O It would have been more effective if I could compare my survey to a survey given to students currently not studying abroad.