Lakhasly

Social media is a fact of life for many people, influencing different aspects of life. It can be used for an increasing number of purposes. These include reading the news in the morning and joining events at night. Most importantly for international students, it can be a long-distance connection to friends and family back home However, this connection through social media may not always be a good thing. While social sites can be used in a number of positive ways, they can also come with unintended consequences when studying abroad. Students are already under pressure to succeed, but now with the added exposure social media brings, they have to be conscious of what their profile 'says' about them at alll times. Their parents want to see them happy, safe and studious when studying in a new country; new friends want to broadcast wild partying for the world to see. Add that to the fact that it is perfect procrastination material, and it can get quite problematic. One of the best uses of social media for international students is for keeping in touch with friends and family members. Studies by researchers at Kent University, USA show that students who use it for this purpose see it as a 'coping mechanism' for homesickness, particularly Facebook and Skype. In another study by University of Sydney, people studying abroad in Australia said that they used these applications for 'comfort and ultimately reduced their stress levels as a result Social media can, however, prove to be a distracting influence on students. This idea is not a new one, but the fact that there could be a direct link between social media usage and a cut in Grade Point Average (GPA) is rather surprising. The Kent University study mentioned above showed a significant connection between time spent on social sites and lower grades. However, it is still unclear as to whether social media causes this to happen. It could just be evidence that less motivated students procrastinate more. Travelling to a new country and living in an unfamiliar city can be intimidating. Students who are studying abroad may have used Facebook or other channels to find out more about their university, keep up with student societies, or even find information in their native language. There are many ways that social med ia can help new students settle in. International students use social media for 'social adaptation', a factor that has a huge impact on wellbeing and happiness for those who might be dealing with culture shock and unfamiliar surroundings The trouble with being connected to what is going on all the time is that is can be hard to press the 'off switch. This can affect sleep patterns. Students might already be stressed, thinking about assignments, or looking for a distraction, and the entertainment social media brings is very tempting. However, another study published by ScienceDirect has shown that students who use digital media within two hours of going to bed can become sleepless, with overall reduced sleeping times than those who didn't. Social media was created in order to keep people in touch with one another. Students meet so many people during their first few weeks that it is difficult to keep track. For this purpose social media can be extremely useful. In fact, the Kent University study found that 84% of students spending six hours per week on social media spoke to their friends on a daily basis, as opposed to 69% for students spending one hour or less. This suggests that social networking sites can be really helpful for maintaining friendships in day-to-day life. It is clear that social media can be a useful tool for international students. However, it is not without its drawbacks. Those studying abroad should look to use it thoughtfully

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