The current study investigates engagement activities in an online resource exchange community exploring elements such as sense of belonging, connectedness, and trust. CouchSurfing.com is an online cultural exchange community in which members from around the globe coordinate travel accommodations and organize gatherings with fellow members via a social media platform. Findings confirmed that members who have not met face-to-face with other members have a lower sense of belonging to the community than those who have. Increased attendance to gatherings was positively related to sense of belonging to the community, and hosting had a positive relationship with trust in the community. Additionally, CouchSurfers reported that they preferred to be contacted through personal e-mails rather then group e-mails, while those who reported an increased participation in gatherings found group e-mails to be useful.
The current study uses a longitudinal, mixed-method approach to investigate the role that new media, such as social networking sites and video chat, play in cross-cultural adaptation and international student friendship network development. Results indicate that international students significantly increase and adapt their new media use while abroad to communicate globally with their friends and family, and locally with their newly formed relationships. Furthermore, social networking site host national friends do not necessarily lead to the development of face-to-face host national friends; however, interaction with established face-to-face host national friends and friend groups via new media platforms leads to an increased understanding of host communication patterns. Finally, this study proposes that researchers who apply Kim's [1] cross-cultural adaptation theory consider incorporating Host New Media Communication as a principal concept.
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