Usage and Usefulness of Social Media in Everyday-Life Information Seeking Among International Students

Abstract

In recent years, the number of students studying abroad has been increasing rapidly. However, adapting to life in different countries, particularly in Malaysia which is a multi-cultural country, is difficult and students are faced with a variety of challenges. As such, they may need more information for their cultural adaptation or daily life use from diverse channels or sources. By conducting focus group discussions, this study focuses on examining the use of social media and its usefulness in everyday-life information seeking (ELIS) among international students at the University of Malaya. Focus group discussions among graduate students suggested that social media ELIS centre around information about home and families, academic matters and news/current affairs. On the other hand, new/current affairs, self-improvement and information about friends for socialization emerged as key in their ELIS on social media. What is apparent, however, is that international students view the information acquired via social media is useful for the fulfilment of their everyday-life needs.