digital technology
Definition
Digital technology refers to internet-connected devices, platforms, and communication tools, including mobile phones, social media, voice-over-internet-protocol services, and direct messaging applications, that enable contact between geographically dispersed individuals and cultural groups. These technologies have transformed acculturation processes by allowing migrants, refugees, and international students to access information about destination countries, maintain near-synchronous contact with their countries of origin, and build both bonding and bridging social capital across cultural boundaries. Digital technologies have also affected migration decision-making, as higher rates of internet and mobile access within a country correlate with greater aspirations to migrate, partly because online information reduces uncertainty about life in the destination country and because diasporic networks provide extended support for potential migrants. Digitally mediated acculturation, as a concept, recognises that these technologies do not replace face-to-face cultural contact but operate concurrently with it, requiring acculturation frameworks to account for cyberspace as an additional dimension alongside geographically proximal and distal cultural communities.
Sources: Stuart et al. (2025)
Related Terms
- acculturation (1 shared article)
- social media (1 shared article)
- migrants (1 shared article)
- mobile phones (1 shared article)
- digital diaspora (1 shared article)
Applications
Digital Technology and Acculturation Outcomes
Digital technologies shape acculturation outcomes by providing migrants with accessible, low-cost connections to social networks, which reduces the psychological and sociocultural burden of cultural adaptation. Social media in particular supports both heritage culture maintenance and adjustment to the settlement culture, through mechanisms such as language learning, knowledge acquisition about the host society, and participation in large-scale online groups. These effects are documented across distinct migrant populations, including refugees who rely on mobile phones during migration journeys, international students managing acculturative stress through social media, and diaspora communities sustaining transnational identities online.
Sources: Stuart et al. (2025)
Digital Technology and Social Media Use
Social media is the most extensively examined form of digital technology in acculturation research, with a growing literature focused on its associations with cultural adaptation and the online interactions of diaspora communities. International students use social media to maintain ties with their home culture while simultaneously forming new connections in the host culture, and these patterns of use can support psychological adjustment or contribute to stress when online engagement displaces participation in the settlement society.
Sources: Stuart et al. (2025)
Digital Technology and Migration
Digital technologies are integral to contemporary migration processes at every stage, from pre-migration decision-making through to post-arrival adjustment. Internet penetration within a country increases migration intentions, and online platforms allow potential migrants to access social imaginaries of destination countries and connect with diaspora networks before departure. For refugees and asylum seekers specifically, mobile phones serve as essential tools for safety and maintaining social connections during the journey itself, while also introducing risks such as surveillance and exploitation.
Sources: Stuart et al. (2025)
