“You don't feel that you're so far away”: Information sharing, technology use, and settlement of international student immigrants

Abstract

While immigrants and international students' information behavior and practices are known, less is understood of their online information sharing, associated use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), and the roles of these technologies in their settlement. We conducted semi‐structured interviews with 20 international students to help fill this gap. We find international students' ICT use and information sharing shares similarities and differences with other students and immigrants; a set of settlement barriers and helps associated with ICTs; and clear roles for ICTs in supporting the informational, social, and emotional needs of international students. Transferable findings fill existing gaps in our knowledge of international student immigrants' use of ICTs and online information sharing; can inform LIS research and practice in facilitating their successful settlement through informational, sociotechnical, and emotional lenses; and encourage further work to confirm and expand on our findings.

The importance of socio‐emotional considerations in online communities, social informatics, and information science

“…An integrated socio‐emotional paradigm would be beneficial both in online community research and for broader research in social informatics and elsewhere in information science where we see further indications of the importance of socio‐emotional factors. For example, information scientists have identified human, social, and emotional ties, as supported and facilitated by technology and online and offline communities, as significant for immigrants in their successful migration and settlement (Andrade & Doolin, 2016; Komito, 2011; Mehra & Papajohn, 2007; Worrall et al, 2019). Others have stressed the key roles of emotion and affect in maker culture (Toombs et al, 2015), the affective information behavior and practices of multiple groups in many different contexts (Kuhlthau, 1991, 2004; Nahl & Bilal, 2007; Rasmussen Pennington, 2016; Savolainen, 2015), and broader human decisions, activities, and behaviors influenced by affect (Zhang, 2013) inclusive of human‐computer interactions and information retrieval (Lopatovska & Arapakis, 2011).…”

Challenges of South Asian and Chinese International Students: Becoming Anchored in Networks of Support

“…One of the key challenges facing international students is accessing academic information (Alzougool et al, 2013;Worrall et al, 2019). Postsecondary institutions offer both printed and online information about academic, financial, health and housing resources students can use to enroll in courses, find housing, set up bank accounts, consider part-time employment, and find health care services (Calder et al, 2016;Marom, 2021).…”

“…Faced with difficulties in obtaining accurate academic information, some students, especially those from China, turned to private agents in their countries of origin to receive help in applying to and enrolling in university. Almost all students reported having insufficient academic information and most of them turned to online resources via websites and social media platforms, even though they were aware that these sites might be unreliable (Worrall et al, 2019). As Rachel (Hongkonger, 22, arrived in 2013) noted, "You might search it up online [on] your own, but sometimes you cannot ensure the information is accurate and authentic.…”

“…Given their ongoing academic challenges, international students appreciate the personal and academic information, advice, and support they receive from peers, faculty, administrators, counsellors, advisors, and international student services, which prove instrumental in ensuring positive student experiences (Calder et al, 2016;Moores & Popadiuk, 2011;Worrall et al, 2019). Students also appreciate campus mental health services as ways to resolve feelings of anxiety and being overwhelmed:…”

Coming to America: Iranians' use of Telegram for immigration information seeking

“…For example, Chen (2018) and colleagues studied first-generation US Chinese immigrants' use of WeChat, a mobile messaging platform popular in their home country but barely known in the US. Results from several studies show that, for student immigrants, co-nationals tend to use these platforms to forge a shared identity post-migration (Oh et al , 2018; Oh and Butler, 2018, 2019; Worrall et al , 2019). Mitra and Evansluong (2019) argue that such use may, in fact, be inhibiting acculturation.…”