social media
Definition
Social media refers to internet-based platforms and applications that enable users to create, share, and consume content while connecting with individuals and groups across geographical boundaries. For migrant populations including international students and diaspora communities, social media supports both bonding social capital (the maintenance of heritage culture ties) and bridging social capital (the formation of new relationships within a settlement society), with consequences for psychological and sociocultural adjustment. The relationship between social media use and well-being is not uniform: moderate use is associated with greater perceived social support and reduced isolation, whereas problematic use correlates with decreased social support and increased isolation, depression risk, and tension in interpersonal relationships. Social media also functions as a primary vector for the rapid spread of conspiracy theories, with online echo-chamber communities reinforcing belief through shared group identity and mutual affirmation.
Sources: Stuart et al. (2025), Jetten et al. (2023)
Related Terms
- unplugging (1 shared article)
- social isolation (1 shared article)
- well-being (1 shared article)
- conspiracy beliefs (1 shared article)
- acculturation (1 shared article)
- migrants (1 shared article)
- digital technology (1 shared article)
- mobile phones (1 shared article)
- digital diaspora (1 shared article)
Applications
Social Media and Acculturation
International students use social media to maintain synchronous contact with their heritage cultures while simultaneously building new connections within the settlement society, a dual function with direct implications for acculturative adjustment. Beyond individual migrants, digital diaspora communities engage in homeland politics and construct transnational identities through social media, reshaping how belonging and integration are experienced across settlement contexts. Social media can support psychological adjustment through language learning and access to settlement-culture information, though heavy orientation toward heritage-culture networks online may impede engagement with the host society.
Sources: Stuart et al. (2025)
Social Media and Social Support
Social support functions as a mediating variable in the relationship between social media use and well-being, with moderate use associated with feeling more socially supported and reduced social isolation. When access to social media is removed, as in a 24-hour unplugging exercise, participants reported feeling cut off from social support, an experience that was associated with increased negative emotions and lower life satisfaction across both Chinese and Australian samples. The distress of disconnection was most pronounced among individuals higher in conspiracy mentality, for whom social media appears to constitute a primary source of group-based support.
Sources: Jetten et al. (2023)
Social Media and Conspiracy Beliefs
Social media provides the infrastructure through which conspiracy theories spread rapidly, in part because authenticity checks are less thorough than those applied to traditional media, and in part because online communities allow conspiracy theorists to consolidate a shared group identity. The more that members of these online groups affirm the view that official narratives cannot be trusted, the stronger their conspiracy beliefs become. Individuals higher in conspiracy mentality showed greater negative emotional responses during a 24-hour digital detox, with social isolation mediating that relationship in both a Chinese and an Australian sample.
Sources: Jetten et al. (2023)
