Page 56 - Never Too Far Away? The Roles of Social Network Sites in Sojourners’ Adjustment

The transactional feature of media effects
Perceived social support predicted Facebook interaction with the host-country network both in the long- and the short-term. Together, the findings that FtF interaction with the host-country network increased perceived social support (in the short-term), and that perceived social support increased Facebook interaction with the host-country network (in the long-term) validate the social enhancement hypothesis which postulates that those with developed FtF social networks tend to have more active CMC use (Valkenburg & Peter, 2007a). Thus, international students who felt socially supported by others via FtF interaction were more likely to expand venues of interaction with the host network by using Facebook. Our findings also suggest a transactional effect, particularly a negative feedback loop (Slater, 2015): Following the social enhancement hypothesis, perceived social support may increase Facebook interaction with the host-country both in the short- and the long-term. However, high frequency of Facebook interaction with the host-country network diminishes perceived social support in the long-term, resulting in homeostasis. This could partly explain why Facebook use does not grow out of control over time (Slater, 2015).
Perceived social support and depressive symptoms
Perceived social support and depressive symptoms had reciprocal relationships. These suggest that because depressed students are less likely to perceive the availability of support, they are also less likely to use Facebook to interact with the host-country network. Thus, depressed international students might have difficulties recognizing the availability of support and may be less likely to socialize with others (even online). Furthermore, decreased perceived social support could exacerbate international students’ negative state, indicating a downward spiral (Peterson & Seligman, 1984).
Theoretical and practical contributions
This current study extends theorizing in the fields of communication and cross-cultural studies. One major contribution of this study is the integrative conceptualization of the various social interactions of international students. Previous studies on international sojourners examined the roles of FtF and online interactions with the home- and the host-country networks using separate models (Berry, 2006; Cemalcilar, 2008; Lee et al., 2011; Rui & Wang, 2015; Ward et al., 2001). By proposing and testing a concurrent communication model, we were able
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