Social Media Usage by International Students in Canada

The Relationship Between Social Media Usage and International Students' Stay in Canada

The social media remains an integral platform as far as communication between people as well as a more natural way of relaying information is concerned. Moreover, the social media serves as an avenue for conveying and getting information as well as keeping up with the trending activities in the society. The prospect of the time spent on the western social media by students relating to the time spent in the country prompted a survey as well as an analysis to determine the validity. According to the study, the respondents negated the perception that the rate of usage of social media platforms related to the time spent in the Canadian country with regards to a period of six months and above. According to Rahman, majority of the youths use the social media platforms for communicating with their colleagues as well as other people irrespective of the locality, provided there is availability of the internet (Rahman, 2014, p. 75). Despite the variations in some of the social media avenue usage between the people who stayed in Canada for a duration of six months and those who stayed up to two years such as in WhatsApp and snapchat, there was no underlined correlation between the time spent and the social media usage.

Possible Reasons Behind the Lack of Correlation

The likely causes of the lack in the correlation between the social media usage and the duration spent in Canada are attributable to the fact that the students feel the urge to contact their friends in their countries of origin. Moreover, the youths view the internet as a source of entertainment as well as a platform to connect with their friends (Khurana, 2015, p. 2). Besides, the need to ensure they get in touch with the activities that take place in their mother countries plays an integral role at providing they are in the continuous usage of the social media platforms. As a result, platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, WeChat among others prove pivotal irrespective of one’s stay in Canada. Similarly, the need to share images and pictures underlines the continuous usage of the social media platforms such as Instagram, WhatsApp among others. The saying that ‘picture is worth a thousand words’ explains the increased usage of the social networks by international students in Canada.

International Students' Reliance on Social Media from Their Native Countries

The international students to a large extent rely on the media platforms they were using in their native countries for socializing. According to the survey, the usage is not dependent on their stay in Canada. Majority of the international students in Canada use the social media platforms that are used by their friends. As a result, the prospect of using a given social media platform or all of them in general in Canada with regards to staying in the country does not hold water. Similarly, the social media plays an integral role of ensuring the youths have a platform for sharing common interests regardless of gender and the diverse opinions (Thirumoorthi, 2015, p. 12).

Survey Limitations and Implications for International Students in Canada

However, the survey suffered from the limitation underlined by the fact that the study was conducted in one locality as emphasized by the fact that the international student's school at the UBC Vantage College. On the other hand, the study project implications to the International students schooling in Canada such as they should utilize the social media platforms regardless of the time spent in the country as well as using a social platform or platforms of one's choice.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the use of the social media platforms in Canada among the international students does not relate to their stay in the country.

References

Khurana, N. (2015). The Impact of Social Networking Sites on the Youth. Journal of Mass Communication & Journalism, 1-4.

Rahman, N. (2014). The Usage and Online Behavior of Social Networking Sites among International Students in New Zealand. The Journal of Social Media in Society, 66-80.

Thirumoorthi, P. &. (2015). A study on the impact of social sites among the youngsters with special Reference to Vishnu computers in Erode District. International Journal of Applied Research, 9-12.